Pokemon: Lucario's Trail
by Zach Archer
Summary: Lucario has returned from the forest to leave behind a trail of bodies in his quest to tie up the loose ends he left behind. Along with friends both old and new, and a new love he would do anything for, the final chapter of the Lucario trilogy has come.
1. Act One: A Chance Meeting Between Selves

Act One: A Chance Meeting Between Selves

It was a chance meeting between selves. A stray Lucario, skinny and shaggy looking, passed by the man with medium length black hair and a cigarette dangling from his lips. There was an instant of recognition in which the Lucario turned to the man and the man turned to the Lucario. Their eyes met and an electric shock shook each of them. The man smiled and blew a stream of smoke from the side of his mouth before approaching the four foot tall Pokemon. He placed his hand atop the creature's head and pet it. The red eyed Lucario didn't really mind this; it felt good to have human contact after a year and a half of living in the forest. The smell of cigarette smoke was not the most pleasant, but reminded the creature of the human world he had run away from.

"Who are you?" The Lucario asked through telepathy. He hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time. This contact was making him feel happy, something he only felt in the forest when he was with his friends.

"My name's Sean Ratchet." The man patted the Lucario's head. "I don't know why I felt compelled to talk to you. I got to get to work though, so hopefully you don't mind. Do you have a master?"

The Lucario thought of Tsubaki, then Jenny, then shook his head both to answer the question and get rid of the memories. "I don't."

"It's strange to meet a wild Lucario on a public street, and one so willing to speak to a human." Sean did an about-face and started off in the opposite direction. "If you're still around after my shifts over I'll treat you to dinner." With that, Sean disappeared.

The Lucario found himself sitting beneath an oak tree. That man…

Sean Ratchet was the name of the human Lucario had been. The body of Sean was the exact same as the one the Lucario had inhabited for seventeen years before the Godstone's power took his mind and soul and placed them in another vessel. In the body of his Lucario.

"Why am I still roaming around? I threw my body on a pyre two and a half years ago." Lucario blew out a breath. "The moment I enter society is the moment it all starts again. I should have stayed in the forest."

"What's wrong Luc?" Came a voice from above Lucario. He looked up the length of the oak tree to find a Treecko sitting on a branch, a piece of grass clamped in its mouth. It flung itself off the branch to land gently beside Lucario. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Treecko sat down next to Lucario and flicked the end of his grass playfully.

"I did." Lucario muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

Treecko looked at his friend quizzically. "A Gengar? Or a Hauntor?"

"No, a human ghost." Lucario replied. "A person I watched die a few years back."

"That's weird." Treecko closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head. He crossed his feet and reclined backward, yawning loudly. "You gonna take a nap too? I heard tonight there would be fireworks so we probably will have a hard time getting shut eye. May as well make up for it now."

Lucario nodded and decided it best to not think too hard on why his human self was walking around. He'd get his answers later when he had dinner with himself. For now, he figured he may as well take a nap. He yawned and closed his eyes, letting the darkness take him in its warm embrace.

Cristian took a bite from the plump red apple, the juices dribbling down his chin, before lobbing it over the waist high concrete wall he was using as cover. He threw it westward and ran eastward the moment the apple made an impact against the warehouse floor. The Yakuza stood and aimed at it, some squeezing the triggers of their Uzi submachine guns and others attempting to track Cristian. He got behind a wall of boxes between himself and his enemies. He checked his pistol's clip and muttered a curse. He had five bullets left. He'd already expended twenty-five.

How had he ended up in this predicament? Easy, he had decided to waltz in on a meeting of the Miyagi family and a shipping industrialist who were working in tandem to export performance enhancing drugs for Pokemon. As a detective for Cherry Grove City's police department, he felt it was his personal responsibility to put this to an end before any deals could be struck. He'd tell the police later, he preferred to work alone anyway. He did his best work that way.

He looked up and noticed a Pidove sitting atop the boxes, staring down at him. He flashed it a smile before pointing his pistol at it and letting off a shot that turned the creature into a cloud of blood and feathers.

He then figured out what the motive behind this Pokemon being there was. A distraction from the forklift being driven into the boxes.

Cristian ran aside as the boxes of drugs tumbled everywhere and the lifts of the forklift meet the wall of the warehouse with an ear bleeding clang. Uzi fire trailed behind Cristian, embedding in the cement walls as he made his way toward the open metal door leading onto a long wooden dock. He jumped out of the door and let out a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one." He muttered as he took a Pokeball from his belt. He pressed the button on the center of the ball and a red stream streaked to the ground in front of him, the red resolving itself into the form of a three and a half foot tall Pokemon with braided red hair. The Zoroark had a violent smile upon her face.

"You were my last resort Zoroark, but I don't seem to have any other way of taking care of this situation." Cristian turned to the door as a man peeked his head around the corner. Cristian's pistol was up and a bullet had left the barrel before the Yakuza could even think about bringing his head back inside. The bullet pierced through the Yakuza's forehead, scrambled his brain, then exited out the back of his head, leaving a trail of pink in its midst.

"Dark pulse! Go!" Cristian stood back as his Zoroark produced a wave of darkness in front of her that smashed against the concrete wall of the warehouse. The wall crumbled and blew chunks of itself into the bodies of the Yakuza. Without its front wall, the warehouse became unstable and started to crumble into itself. Cristian smiled and turned toward the beautiful blue ocean. He made Zoroark return to her Pokeball before releasing another of his Pokemon, a Gyarados. It splashed into the pure waters and Cristian hopped on its back as the sound of police sirens grew closer and closer.

"Let's get out of here." He muttered. "I got a good look at the stickers on the sides of the boxes. I know who's supplying the drugs. Let's take him out."

Gyarados let out an approving roar before taking his master away from the warehouse.

"We're here to collect this month's protection fee." Jirou said, seating himself across from the twenty year old woman. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was disheveled. She was raving mad. Jirou hated dealing with her because of this. Her restaurant was still a popular spot in Cherry Grove City, despite the fact she was not in the dining room flashing her lovely smile anymore. She had a waiter who worked the front and she stayed in the back where she cooked alone. Most people knew it had to do with the loss of her Lucario. The two had been bonded much more closely than any other master/Pokemon relationship known. The loss of her Pokemon had left her a mess and shattered her brain. The same did not apply to the Pokemon, he was the one who broke the bond. She was the one who had the chain yanked from her chest that connected them. He still dragged it to connect with another.

"Ma'am, the money?" Jirou had been in the Yakuza for five years. He had been a member of the Kishimoto family before it had been assimilated into the Miyagi's. Now a collector, he made his money off property owners by making them pay exorbitant fees for Yakuza protection. If they failed to pay, they were beaten up until they did. If they never caved in, they died. Simple as that. It was blackmail, sure, but it was mutually beneficial.

Tsubaki threw a white envelope on the table and stood, turning away from the Yakuza. "Get the hell out of my restaurant." She muttered.

Jirou nodded and slipped the envelope into his jacket. "Have a good afternoon." He left Tsubaki alone in the room. She sat down in a booth and released her Zangoose. The Pokemon loved his master deeply. He hated Lucario for leaving her like this. He swore that if he ever saw the blue bastard, he would tear him to shreds. Until that day came, he tried to comfort his master. He snuggled up to her and fell asleep right beside her in the booth. He could hear her cry. It wasn't just over Lucario though. It also had to do with the Yakuza being so powerful.

Lucario had left at a vital time. The Miyagi family was the most powerful crime syndicate in the world. Johto was theirs to control. If Lucario had stayed, he could have helped prevent this. Instead, he left.

Where he was, nobody knew. A year and a half later, and he was still gone. No sign of him.

"Wake up!" Came a feminine voice from above Lucario. He opened one eye to find Gardevoir standing over him, looking down at him with a friendly gaze. She seemed to be smiling at him. He smiled back. Ever since they had met eight months back, she had been like an authority figure in his life. She woke him up in the morning, she pushed him to swim in the river, she told him when it was a good time to go to bed. Like a nagging mother.

"Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?" Treecko muttered from Lucario's side. "You're interrupting."

"You get up too Treecko! I got us some berries and thought we could have lunch together."

Lucario stood and stretched, yawning widely. Treecko didn't move an inch. Gardevoir was about to poke him when he started speaking.

"I stayed up all night looking at the stars. So let me sleep. It would make me happy, and isn't my happiness all that matters?" He smiled. "You two lovebirds eat lunch together."

If Pokemon could blush, Lucario and Gardevoir would have done so. Instead Gardevoir simply grabbed Lucario by the arm and dragged him into the forest. "He's so annoying!" She exclaimed. "Every time I try to be nice to him I get shot down. I should just stop trying."

Lucario tried to keep up with her. Why she was running so fast he had no idea.

"Oh well, I was hoping he'd say that anyway. It means more for us!" She looked over her shoulder and regarded Lucario for a brief moment while he wasn't paying attention. When he looked up at her she quickly turned away and continued to drag him toward the river.

"So why are you feeding me today?" Lucario asked as they stopped by the river.

"Because it's what a friend does for another friend, right?" She stopped at the river side and pushed aside a flat rock that sat over a big hole in the ground. Inside of it were berries and a small bag of Pokechow. Lucario smiled.

"I know why you didn't want Treecko to come. It's hard to come by this Pokechow."

"A little girl in the park gave it to me. I didn't think Treecko would come so saved it for us." Her words got a little muddled at the end.

The two sat down and started eating. They talked about themselves and watched other Pokemon roam about the forest. When they finished their lunch they stood up and Gardevoir hugged Lucario. He was taken by surprise but didn't complain. It was the first time in a long time he had felt the embrace of someone, the first time in a long time he felt like someone really cared about him. He liked her. He had at one point been a human but he had lost taste in human women over the years. Well, since Jenny. Now he was more like a Pokemon than ever. He still retained his human memories and some of his human ways, but he had given in to being a Pokemon. He had a lot of fun this way too. Staying out of human affairs and making friends with other Pokemon had been the only thing keeping him sane.

"I, um, wanted to talk to you about something." Gardevoir said as they held the embrace.

"What is it?" Lucario asked.

She hesitated. It might ruin their friendship if she asked. She was scared to do that. He was the only friend she had other than Treecko, but he only counted one percent of the time. She really cared about Lucario and protected him a couple times from violent Pokemon causing trouble. She cursed herself in her head for not having the strength to ask him, but did blurt out something at least.

"I l-l-like you." She muttered and looked down.

"I like you too." Lucario nudged her with his nose playfully. "You're my best friend."

"Will you…um…watch the fireworks with me tonight?" She asked. "We can go to the park and find a good spot."

"I'd like that." Lucario disengaged from the hug and smiled the best a Lucario could. Gardevoir found the facial movement cute.

"Good afternoon gentlemen." Cristian smiled kindly at the lady behind the secretary desk of the software firm. Four men sat in comfortable chairs in the reception and recreation room. They all regarded Cristian with more than just contempt. He knew he was entering the beehive. He was ready for anything though. His pistol had a fresh clip and a couple more sat in the pocket of his blazer. His Blaziken's Pokeball was clipped to his pocket beside his right hand. If the shit hit the fan, he was prepared.

"What might your business be here detective?" The secretary asked.

" I got a shipment in my mail of some sort of…enhancement drug. Had a label on it saying it came from here. I figured I'd return it since it was obviously sent to the wrong address."

"So you're the asshole.." Before the man with the Mohawk and dirty jacket could finish his sentence about the destruction of the warehouse, Cristian had released Blaziken into the room. The Pokemon kicked the man underneath the chin, sending him flying into the air, his face smashing against the low ceiling. The three other men had no time to get up and help their comrade before Blaziken had roundhouse kicked two of them in the face and kneed one in the groin so hard one of his balls popped.

The secretary was cowering in her seat, Cristian's pistol pointed at her pony-tailed head. "Turn yourself into the cops. Either that or your kneecaps will become spaghetti sauce. Got it?" The woman nodded, tears in her eyes. She probably had no idea what was going on, just a secretary for a tech firm, but she needed to talk to the police nonetheless.

Cristian looked at his watch. Seven o' clock. Night was falling.

"Chairman Miyagi, I'm sorry." The kid bowed his head deeply. His body was covered in bandages. The one man who had survived the destruction at the warehouse was a short kid, maybe eighteen. Miyagi pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a breath. He was mad. That was for sure. But he had no reason to be mad at this kid. Nonetheless, he needed to be taught a lesson. Failure in the Miyagi family was unacceptable. Miyagi pulled a bottle of scotch from his desk. He opened it, took a swig, then set it on the desk along with a large butcher's knife. The kid looked at it, scared. He knew what he was being made to do.

"The rest of the men you were with paid with their lives." The chairman said. "You are lucky to walk out with only minor scrapes and bruises. A missing pinky is not a bad price to pay for surviving and continuing your life as a Yakuza."

The kid walked forward slowly, his legs shaking. He wanted to run, but knew it was useless. He'd be shot. He was dedicated to the organization to a certain degree, but the pain he had inflicted to himself was getting to be too much. He'd already been shot in the stomach once. He was sick of being in pain. Losing his pinky would just add to it all.

He took the scotch and downed the whole bottle before wrapping his left hand around the knife and putting his right hand on the top of the desk. He placed the knife in between his ring and pinky finger. His hand was shaking. He couldn't bring himself to do this.

"I'll do it." Miyagi said, walking around the desk and grabbing the handle of the knife. He pressed it against the kid's pinky, drawing blood. He then brought it up and dropped it like a guillotine. The kid fell over screaming as his pinky was severed beneath the fingernail. He clutched at it as blood spewed from the wound. Miyagi took a white handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped the severed finger in it. He then lifted the receiver of his black phone sitting on his desk.

"Yes Mr. Miyagi?" Came the cute voice of his receptionist.

"Bring in the doctor."

"Yes sir."

"So you're here." Sean Ratchet said, not surprised that the Lucario standing on the sidewalk where they had met nine hours before was there. The prospect of free dinner probably brought him. Sean was happy about it though, it meant he would have company. He was planning on eating at the restaurant alone before he had met the blue Pokemon.

"I've been waiting for you. I really wanted to talk to you." Lucario followed beside Sean, matching his strides. "I wanted to learn more about you. About your life and all of that kind of stuff."

They crossed an intersection. While Onyx City wasn't large, it wasn't small either. Cars passed by on the street, quite a few people roamed the sidewalks.

"Well, I don't remember much about my past. Two and a half years ago I remember being in Sinnoh. I just kind of woke up. There was this guy— he was with a strange Pokemon that looked like a Mew—who told me to get out of Sinnoh, war was coming. So I moved here and became an assistant at the Pokemon Center. It's kind of weird, I know. I don't know why seventeen years of my life just disappeared. The guy said I hit my head really hard and am suffering a severe case of amnesia."

"The scientist had black hair? Curly?" Lucario asked.

"Yeah. Just that." Sean lifted an eyebrow. "You know him?"

"Daylan." Lucario muttered. "He was experimenting with synthetic Pokemon."

"Really? So that Pokemon he had…"

"It's called Mewtwo. An imperfect clone of Mew."

Sean nodded. They made it to the restaurant and walked inside the giant double doors and into the dining room. It was fancy, lots of fish tanks and pillars and foliage. The duo got seats next to one of the tanks. Sean ordered water and Pokechow for Lucario and a steak for himself.

"So what about you?" Sean asked in between bites of steak. "What's your story? You're awfully intelligent for a Pokemon. You seem well versed in human affairs."

"I read the newspapers." Lucario replied.

"You can read?" Sean's eyes were wide. "I work with Pokemon every day. I've never seen, nor even heard of a Pokemon who could read."

"I can speak English too. Do Pokemon speak to you normally?"

"Lucario's are hard to come by, but they are supposed to be able to speak in a person's language by telepathy. Basically, you think the words in your language, I receive the words in mine. So do you actually know English then? Who taught you?"

Lucario had a hard time answering that question. "Um, I used to have a master. He taught me." He lied.

"You're a strange Pokemon." Sean said. "Don't think I'm weird or anything, but I feel like I've met you before."

"No, I don't find that weird at all." Lucario ingested a mouthful of Pokechow. "I feel the same."

After another twenty minutes of talking, Sean paid the check and patted Lucario's head as they headed out and prepared to part ways.

"Maybe we can talk some more tomorrow. If you want to meet again." Sean said.

"Sure." Lucario replied. "Thanks for dinner."

"No problem buddy. See you around." Sean waved and started toward his house. Lucario headed to the park. Night was falling and the fireworks show was going to start soon. People were already filing toward the waterfront to get the best seats. Lucario went against the tide of people, the lone Pokemon getting strange looks. What was a lone Pokemon, let alone a social pariah like a Lucario, doing in a big crowd of people?

Regardless, he made it to the park.

"The Lucario?" Daylan asked into his cell phone.

"I think he's the one you've been after." Sean replied. "Why is he so important?"

"He did some things in Sinnoh. You probably weren't paying attention to the news back during the war. He was there though." Daylan's voice was happy. "And now we've found the bastard."

"How did you figure he would see me and latch on?"

"A guess." Daylan snickered.

"Are you going to…kill him?"

Daylan laughed. "No, I'll just use him for scientific experiments. Your obligation to me is over. Never call me or speak of me." Sean started to reply, but was answered only by the beep of a dead line.

"Bugger off mate." Devon sneered, stuffing a tiny sandwich in his mouth. "Can't you see it's tea time? Right Bellossom, love?" He grabbed his Pokemon from the seat beside him and rubbed his nose against her. "Your colourful flowers never fail to grant me the courage to continue."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your tea and crumpet time…"

"It's tea and little sandwich time asshat." Devon took a sip from his tea cup.

"I wouldn't speak to me that way."

"Or what? You and your mates will proceed to jerk me off vigorously? You lot do look like arse bandits." Devon smiled. "I'm trying to enjoy a meal here and I've got you retards watching me like I'm some sort of celebrity. I'm not paying the Yakuza to take care of my problem. Quit eavesdropping between me and my wonderfully amazing Bellossom or I'll rip your fucking ears off."

"Okay asshole, if that's what you want…" The Yakuza grabbed Devon by the shoulder but quickly regretted it as Devon grabbed Bellossom and shoved her in the man's face.

"FLOWER POWER!" Devon yelled and Bellossom shot poisoned powder from the red flowers atop her head. The Yakuza screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his eyes as they burned like volcanoes. The other two Yakuza quickly pulled pistols from their jackets but Devon was fast.

Holding Bellossom to his chest he threw his cup of hot tea at one of the men. It smashed against his face and he screamed as it burned his skin. Devon then grabbed the hot metal tea pot and threw it at the second man. The man swatted it away with his pistol but was quickly met by Devon holding two little sandwiches. He shoved one into the barrel of the pistol and another into his enemies mouth. The Yakuza attempted to shoot, but couldn't.

"Bellossom!" Devon's little green friend said and sprayed poison all over the man. She then sprayed it on the man clutching his tea burned face.

"Well wasn't that all over the shop?" Devon asked Bellossom before paying for his meal and leaving the restaurant, heading into Cherry Grove City.

Cristian sat back and watched from the catwalk as his Blaziken made short work of the men in white jumpsuits working the conveyor belts beneath the software firm. They'd stop producing the enhancement drug now. They had no chance of even thinking before his Blaziken was on them, almost as fast as a fighter jet as it kicked them around like bags of dirt. When there were only a couple left, Cristian sighed, pulled his back from the wall he rested against and uncrossed his arms. He made his way down and found a man who seemed to be older, maybe a foreman, maybe just an older worker. The man was scared shitless, literally as the brown stain in the back of his white pants attested. Cristian grabbed him and took him to one of the conveyor belts. Beside the belt was a control panel that had a lever that adjusted the speed. Cristian pushed this to full throttle and the room resounded with the sound of whirring from the conveyor. It was going fast, really fast. Cristian pushed the old man's head close to it.

"You tell me what I want to know and you keep your face. If I think you're lying or bullshitting me I'll sharpen your head to a point. Got it?"

"Y-YES!"

"Tell me everything about this operation. Who runs it, who buys from you, where you get the product to make these drugs. You lie, you die. Got it?"

The man nodded and told Cristian everything he wanted to know.

He met Gardevoir at the park. They found an open area near to the water that gave a very good view of the sky where the fireworks would go off. They huddled close as a cold breeze blew by. Gardevoir put her head against Lucario's shoulder and they sat like that, watching the display.

As the finale started, the fireworks being shot off like crazy, exploding into a rainbow of colors competing for space in the black sky, Gardevoir looked at Lucario and mustered up her courage.

"Um…Luc?" He looked at her and she started to stammer out what she had been meaning to say for weeks but never could. "I-I-I love…"

There was a shot and Lucario threw himself on top of Gardevoir, putting an aura shield around them. The bullet bounced off and Lucario cursed.

"Luc?" Gardevoir was wide eyed. He looked down at her and grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"It'll be okay. Whoever these bastards are they've fucked with the wrong person."


	2. Act Two: The Capture of Lucario

Act Two: The Capture Of Lucario

Michaels wore a balaclava over his face and carried a machine gun in his hands, the stock pushed against his shoulder, the sights lined up with the Lucario's head. The moment the Pokemon let go of its aura shield he would take it out. He shook a bit as a cool breeze swept through the forest. The Lucario sat in a clearing surrounded by thick foliage. It had been a simple matter to surround him. Only two people were meant to shoot though. The other three would be back up in case the Lucario went on a rampage. Michaels was one of the shooters, the other on the opposite side of the clearing from him. The Lucario couldn't hold his aura shield for much longer, it would cost him a lot of personal strength just to repel the two bullets shot at him. At least, it should have. The Lucario didn't appear to be losing any strength and the shield stayed up, unwavering after even two whole minutes. This was unheard of.

"Omega Team, copy?" The voice of Holliday intruded Michaels' thoughts. Michaels pulled the tiny microphone connected to his earpiece closer to his mouth.

"Copy Holliday, this is Michaels over."

"The Lucario is protecting a Gardevoir. I say we lob a grenade at them. That should kill the shield."

The Lucario stood and the shield continued to envelope him and his companion who clung to him tightly. They began to run for it and Omega Team followed him, keeping their weapons trained on the shield.

"How do we proceed?" Michaels asked.

"Follow him. Don't let him out of your sights. He has to let up the shield at some point."

"Yes sir." Michaels ran as fast as he could, his boots pounding against the ground. The rest of Omega Team followed suit.

Running parallel to Michaels was Holliday who flashed him a look and then nodded at him. Michaels nodded back and pulled a tube from his belt that he attached to the bottom of his machine gun. He then grabbed a grenade and let it slide into the tube. They exited the forest and entered an open playground area. It was abandoned but for the Lucario and his companion in their shield. Michaels aimed his machine gun upward and prepared to fire his grenade at the duo when he felt an impact against his forehead and toppled over backward. He pulled the trigger and the grenade flew wide, blowing up a swing set.

"Michaels respond!" Holliday screamed into his microphone. It was no use. Someone had shot and killed Michaels. Holliday grabbed his Charizard's pokeball. There was someone else out there who was defending the Lucario.

"Release your fire types and burn the forest opposite. Got it?"

"Yes sir." Came a trio of responses.

Holliday found cover behind a tree in the forest on the opposite side of the enemy shooters, as did his men, and let loose his Charizard as the fireworks display that had helped drown out the sound of the violence ended. Holliday gave his orders to the orange dragon and watched it take off, meeting in midair with another Charizard, a Dragonite, and a Salamence.

They opened their mouths to turn the forest into a raging hell but were stopped by a creature flying out from the edge of the foliage. It exuded a purple aura that was almost like smoke. Holliday wanted to scream. It was like a devil.

It threw out aura spheres that flew at the speed of light. All of the Pokemon flying before it ate a mouthful of dark energy that blew apart upon contact, taking the upper half of their bodies. Blood and gore spattered everywhere, plopping against the Lucario's shield as it stood in the center of the playground, nowhere to go. The bottom half of the dragon's bodies splattered against the playground, the Dragonite's lower half hitting the top of the slide and leaving a trail of blood and guts on its way down it.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Davidson asked over the radio.

"The devil." Holliday replied.

The creature landed in front of the Lucario's aura shield. He punched it and it exploded, throwing the devil to the ground. Lucario ran at it and the devil was up, an aura sphere let loose. Lucario spun, the sphere passing his fur by centimeters. The devil crossed its' arms in front of itself as Lucario punched at its' chest. When the fist connected with the devil's arms, he pushed the Lucario backward and started a volley of punches of his own.

Davidson returned on Holliday's radio. "The Lucario was protecting a Gardevoir. Permission to engage?"

"Go ahead." Holliday replied and continued watching the battle between the Lucario and the white devil.

The moment Davidson moved out of his cover behind an oak tree to aim at the Gardevoir both the Lucario and the white devil had turned to him and shot off an aura sphere. The aura spheres smashed against the man, one disintegrating his face, the other leaving a basketball sized hole in his stomach. He died instantly.

"Dammit!" Holliday cried. The Lucario and the devil had resumed their fight.

That's when the three men on the opposite side of the park came out into the open. One of them wore a lab coat and carried a rifle. The other two held machine guns not unlike those carried by Holliday's men and wore fatigues and bulletproof vests. They stood to either side of the scientist who ran a hand through his curly black hair. He looked at the Gardevoir and she back at him. He shook his head and started toward her. Lucario wanted to go and protect her but fell to his knees as the devil's fist met his solar plexus.

"I assume you and the Lucario are an item." Holliday heard the scientist say. "I have no intention of harming you, nor him if you submit to us. If you can't convince him to give up like a good little boy than Mewtwo will have to bloody him up a bit. No matter what path he chooses the men shooting at you will be taken care of. Our interests are polar opposites and I fear that my former employer is going to get in my way if he continues this behavior. And it is never a good idea to get between a mad scientist and his experiment." He directed this toward Holliday whose neck hairs stood straight at this sentence.

"You put the guns down and we'll spare your lives!" Holliday cried back.

"Oh, hollow threats from a dead man. I love them. Are you new to the organization? I hadn't heard much about it after Sinnoh. Everyone was told it had fallen apart, your leader had died, and there was no hope of a restoration. I knew better than to think that." The scientist turned toward the Lucario. "A strange inconsistency in the story of your leader's death is the fact that he was shot through the head multiple times. By the Lucario, the only one in the vicinity. Now tell me something, how does a Lucario shoot a submachine gun?" He turned back to Holliday. "It's simple really. He didn't shoot. Your boss shot at the Lucario and missed. The Lucario inflicted massive amounts of physical damage but never used a projectile weapon. On top of that, the police reports stated that your boss's body was burned in a fire, thus the reason there was no trace of his body. The only fire in the area had been an illusion brought on by my Darkrai clone. In other words, if Ketchum thinks he's being sneaky and expected me to be stupid enough to think him dead, then he's more of an idiot than I would have thought. After all, I was the one who injected him with nanomachines that would suppress pain and heal his body at one hundred times the usual rate." The scientist smiled and opened his arms theatrically. "Then again, he thought I had died as well."

"Who are you?" Holliday asked.

The scientist glanced at Mewtwo and Lucario, still fighting. Lucario seemed to be backing toward Gardevoir. The scientist turned back to Holliday. "The short answer, I'm a ghost. The long answer, I'm the original Daylan Hernandez. The one whose arm had been cut off and later killed by a Gengar was a clone I created, much like the Darkrai and my own Mewtwo. The problem with clones being you can only make one from a single specimen. If I spliced my genes and screwed with my blood and brain waves any more I'd end up killing myself. Not only that, but I've realized that cloning does not produce the perfect replica of a person's brain. It can create a perfect copy of the outer shell, but the inner clock work is only seventy-five percent correct."

"So you're the Daylan who worked with our boss two and a half years ago?" Holliday asked.

"I've already stated, that was a clone. All the money made from that operation was funneled to me. Whether it failed or not had no bearing on me. I still got my money, I got to test my clones, and I was able to raid the Team Rocket facilities after they were disbanded and take all the tech I wanted."

"The boss is gonna kill you!" One of Holliday's men cried out.

"Does he still wear that pathetic white mask? Is he still an angsty bitch who can't get over his wife's death?"

"Asshole!" Daylan's provocation worked. Both of Holliday's men ran out from the forest and shot wildly at the three men around the Gardevoir. Daylan raised his arm and shook his sleeve back to reveal a long bracelet. Suddenly, the trio and the Gardevoir were enveloped in an aura shield like the Lucario had been holding. The shots bounced off and Daylan smiled sadistically. His men took aim and when the Team Rocket soldier's clips ran dry, the shield was taken down and Daylan's men took them out with precise shots. Dark spheres of aura exploded from the weapons and Holliday then noticed that they weren't normal machine guns.

The clips contained some sort of black, mist-like substance. The aura that surrounded Mewtwo.

The aura spheres that tore through Holliday's men literally disintegrated their skin to nothing but bone. Holliday wanted to run for it. This wasn't part of the mission. His boss would want to know everything that transpired, would want to know about Daylan and the Mewtwo. The mission had failed, Omega Team was done.

"Fuck!" Holliday cried and ran the opposite way of Daylan.

Daylan let him go. There was no harm in letting him tell his boss that their operation had been a failure and the better man had won. Now Daylan could focus on Lucario and his apparent girlfriend. He turned to the green Pokemon and offered her his hand. She looked at it, then up at his face, her eyes full of fear. Daylan blew out an annoyed breath.

"I'm your friend. I wish you no harm. Maybe you don't understand me, but I want your boyfriend to stop fighting. And if you can stop him, I'd be happy. It would save him a lot of pain, would save me some time, and would get you two back together much faster. Nod if you understand me."

The Gardevoir nodded and Daylan offered her his hand again.

"I can't call off Mewtwo. He's a creature of bestial instincts." Daylan explained as he helped the Pokemon up. "He follows me, but he doesn't obey me all the time. Especially when it comes to someone trying to kill him. He doesn't take it lightly." He nodded toward Lucario and Mewtwo's fight. While Lucario had been trying to get close and protect Gardevoir, Mewtwo had turned him around and backed him as far away from her as he could. The Mew clone was smart, that was for sure.

"Mewtwo! Let him submit!" Daylan yelled and Mewtwo looked over his shoulder with a sneer. Daylan whispered to Gardevoir. "If Lucario submits, Mewtwo will at least give him that. Mewtwo knows the mission isn't to kill Lucario, but will stop at nothing to get him as close to death as possible without actually killing him. Submission is the only way to stave off this fate."

Gardevoir nodded and started yelling at Lucario. It all came out as "Gar-gar-gardevoir" to Daylan, but to Lucario, it meant a lot more.

"Please stop fighting Luc!" Gardevoir said, her eyes filling with tears when she saw Mewtwo's fist meet Lucario's muzzle. Lucario was seeing stars and nearly fell over. "I love you! I don't want to see you in pain!" Lucario stopped and let the words settle in his head. "Don't do this to me! You're hurting me as much as you're hurting yourself!"

Lucario looked over Mewtwo's shoulder at Gardevoir and dropped to his knees, putting his hands behind his head. Mewtwo frowned, wishing for the fight to continue. Lucario looked down at the grass and smiled to himself.

Mewtwo pulled him up and dragged him over to Daylan. Lucario fell to his knees again and the two men guarding Daylan secured a pair of flexi-cuffs around his wrists. Lucario looked at Gardevoir.

"Everything will be explained later." Daylan said as the two guards hefted Lucario up and started him out of the park.

Daylan turned to Gardevoir. "We'll drop him off here in the morning."

Before Lucario could disappear from her sights, he turned to her. He gave her a longing look.

"I love you too." He said and disappeared into the night with the three men.

Gardevoir fell to the ground, tears stinging her eyes.

Treecko later found her there, along with the bodies of three men and four Pokemon. He took her away from the site of all the violence before the police could take her in.

"So what is the Gardevoir to you?" Daylan asked, sitting in the backseat of a jeep with Lucario, his cronies taking the front seats. Lucario had been rather solemn. He stared at his feet and looked as if he were in deep thought. Daylan knew he wouldn't try to escape though. Mewtwo sat atop the Jeep, just waiting for him to move.

Daylan knew pretty much everything about Lucario, had been following his trail ever since he had become a Pokemon. He knew that Lucario wanted to get away from the human world and Daylan had tried to track him but had only been able to figure out his general vicinity. So he had used the ashes he found at the pyre where Lucario had burned his body and created a new Sean Ratchet. He knew that this would lure Lucario out at some point.

And it had.

Daylan asked his question again. "What's the Gardevoir to you?"

"None of your business."

"I'm not your enemy. If you think I am then you are sorely mistaken. If I was, I wouldn't have saved you from Team Rocket and left the Gardevoir alive. You can trust me. I am only an enemy to those who incur my wrath. You have not."

"Then why have you taken me?"

"I want to examine you. I know everything about you Sean Ratchet. I was the one who created the clone of your human self. My clone of myself and the Darkrai were not under my control. They were directly under the influence of Ash Ketchum. If they hurt you, I apologize. It wasn't what I wanted."

"You worked with Team Rocket. You're my enemy." Lucario had figured out that his human self was a clone the moment Daylan got involved. He had been lured out. Daylan had gotten what he wanted.

"I'm a free agent. I work for whoever pays me. You of all people should understand that. I believe you were a member of Team Plasma before you…"

"Shut the fuck up." Lucario muttered.

"Why not talk about Team Rocket instead then. I figure you heard my conversation with the Rocket hit man. It should have come as no surprise to you that Ketchum was still alive. They say you shot him and burned his body in the flames the Darkrai produced. So you didn't actually kill him. Did you know he survived? Did you intentionally leave him alive?"

"No. I thought he was dead. His heart rate stopped. I felt it."

"It's a rare quality to be able to stop your heartbeat." Daylan laughed. "Ketchum's better than I thought. So the whole time he survived and the media tells us he died and Team Rocket fell from power. It did fall from power, but it was still operating on a much more underground level than before. I think the government was covering up. They wanted everyone to feel secure after the war so lied through their teeth. Now he's back and he apparently has been tapping into my phone conversations."

"Everything's catching up to me." Lucario muttered.

"That's why I was asking about the Gardevoir. I fear for her safety as much as your own. Mewtwo said that you were also friends with a Treecko. A little birdy also mentioned a Lopunny had been seen travelling with you the first half of your time in the forest. You two were alone. She took care of you. What happened to her?"

"If you know so much, then you tell me."

"Well we were under the assumption she disappeared."

"She did. I don't know what happened to her."

"You two were lovers? Or just good friends?"

"We had gotten to the love part by the time she disappeared."

"And you and the Gardevoir? Is she your new girlfriend? Are you moving on?"

"I love Gardevoir, but I don't understand how. Maybe more as a mother figure than a mate. Lopunny…"

"You came to Onyx City to find her. You travelled the forest to find Lopunny."

Lucario nodded.

Daylan exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Would you join me if I could promise to find Lopunny for you? I will expend all of my resources in securing her if you will do a simple job for me."

"What?"

"Protect me. If you follow me and work with Mewtwo as my guards for the next couple days I will find Lopunny for you."

"There's a catch."

"There always is." Daylan smiled. "I'm going to Cherry Grove City." Daylan stopped to allow Lucario to feel a pang of nostalgia. That was where Tsubaki lived. It was where Jenny had died. "I know you have a past there but you will be able to assist me in taking down an enemy who I know you want dead. I'll be working with a group of rebels who want rid of the oppressive nature of the Yakuza. You can help me help them kill Chairman Miyagi."

That name sent hundreds of images through Lucario's head. The party. Jenny's death. Kishimoto being thrown into the rotors of a helicopter. The Ronin assassins.

"You promise me Lopunny, I promise you Miyagi will die." Lucario said, baring his fangs.

"It's a deal." Daylan pulled a knife from his pocket and took the flexi-cuffs from Lucario's hands. They shook hands. "I still want to perform some experiments on you. Nothing severe, just X-rays and such. In the morning I'll allow you to tell your friends that you're off. Then we'll head for Cherry Grove."

Lucario knew something was up, but didn't know what. How Daylan knew so much about him, especially his time secluded in the forest, was something that was up for debate. Nonetheless, the prospect of having Lopunny back in his arms was something he couldn't refuse. He had been searching for her for a long time. Gardevoir knew but had fallen in love with him while helping him search. And the cherry on top would be getting his hands on Miyagi, the bastard who had killed Jenny.

Lucario would do anything to get Lopunny back.

Even help a scumbag like Daylan.

Devon sat his feet up on the table and perched his saucer with a tiny cup of tea atop it on his chest. He watched the television sitting on the table and pointed his direction. The news was on. A dashing reporter spoke of things that weren't quite as lovely as her countenance. Dead Pokemon at a playground, bodies lying about, the kidnapping of two ten year old trainers by a man on the sex offenders list. Devon shook his head and switched the channel to a game show where men dressed in Pokemon outfits ran around slapping each other with fish. Devon took a sip of tea and laughed as a man was slapped so hard with a fish he fell down.

"What the hell are you watching?" Cristian took a seat beside Devon, a cold beer in his hand.

"Eh, I'm waiting for a guy to get hit in the bollocks. That'd be entertaining."

"You're an idiot." Cristian took a swig from his beer.

"Would you rather I turn on the soaps then?" Devon grabbed for the remote beside his feet but Cristian got to it first. He turned the television off and threw the remote aside.

"The supplier is coming tomorrow. Let's stop screwing around and get some work done."

"Hey mate, I beat the crap out of a couple of Yakuza at the tea and sandwich place."

"And I shut down a drug production plant."

"Fucking overachiever." Devon muttered. "If I were a cop I would be able to do that much. But I took the easy route and became a trainer. What about the other people? What have they been doing?"

"Posing as another Yakuza family and fighting Miyagi's men."

Devon wasn't listening. "I'll rally all the men here. I apparently don't do enough so better show my worth." He drank the rest of his tea and stood, making his way into the next room in the tiny apartment.

Lucario was asleep. Daylan had injected him with a tiny dose of a drug that would keep him in dreamland for at least the next eight hours. That was all he needed. He started taking X-rays and began to take what he needed from the creature's body. Some blood, a bit of fur. As far as the brain was concerned, Daylan could use a generic. All he wanted was the creature's body and powers. Mewtwo watched the whole ordeal with not the least bit of interest. A few scientists milled about, helping with the proceedings, but it was otherwise a boring night in the laboratory.

N handed a stack of bills to the lead investigator, a balding man in a leather duster and old fashioned pinstriped suit, and ducked under the yellow DO NOT PASS tape. He passed all of the bloody playground equipment and made a beeline for the bodies of the human men. He stopped next to the first one he saw and the Officer Jenny in charge of the crime scene came to stand beside him.

"He was shot through the forehead by a fifty caliber sniper bullet that we found embedded in the ground behind him. The shooter was in a tree, probably that large oak, and took him out." The Jenny watched as N bent down and pulled the man's black bullet proof vest off exposing a big red letter.

"Team Rocket." N cursed. "Why are they still around?"

"That," Jenny had a wide eyed look on her face, "is a good question."

"Holy shit. Why was a Pokemon doctor called here? This is disgusting!" The voice belonged to a twenty year old man in a white coat and a sleepy look on his face. N turned toward him and got a good look at his face.

"Holy shit is right." N said, replacing his expression with Jenny's. He now had a wide eyed look while she had no expression.

"What?" She asked.

"If that's who I think it is…"

"Day's breaking. I'm heading out for doughnuts. You have any specifics you want N?" The lead investigator asked.

"Get me a bear claw." N said, trying to dismiss the man.

"You got it. Black coffee, right?"

"Yeah." N moved him aside and started toward the black haired man inspecting the bodies of the dragon Pokemon.

At daybreak Lucario awoke in the back of the Jeep with Daylan beside him and the two cronies in front. He had spent the whole night dreaming of his time in the forest with Lopunny and realized how much he missed her. He couldn't wait to have her back. He hoped that Daylan could be trusted to keep his word. Because if Daylan didn't bring Lopunny back to him, he would kill Daylan.

"Here we are. Hurry please. The park is closed due to the police investigation of last night's activities. She shouldn't be too far from the spot you left her." Lucario nodded and one of the cronies opened the door for him and watched him head for Gardevoir.

"Everything is going according to plan." Daylan said, yawning. "I'm tired. Wake me up when Lucario returns."

He found her with Treecko. She lay asleep against a tree. Treecko sat next to her and looked up as Lucario approached.

"I'm leaving." Lucario said.

Treecko smiled. "The past just won't leave you alone, eh?"

Lucario nodded and looked down at Gardevoir.

"I'll take care of her for you." Treecko said. "I'll explain everything. You'll be back, right?"

Lucario knelt beside Gardevoir. "I don't know." He pushed his mouth against her forehead in the Pokemon equivalent of a kiss.

"You never explained the past to her, did you?" Treecko asked.

"I still don't want her to know."

"She had a lot of questions about what happened last night. I had no idea how to answer her about your powers and why you could fight like you do."

"Leave it a mystery. Please."

"So what are you doing?"

Lucario explained everything.

Treecko nodded and put his hand out. "Good luck Luc. Come back with Lopunny. I only knew her for a couple of weeks, but I could tell you two were made for each other. Whatever happened to her, I'm sure you two will be reunited."

Lucario took his hand and shook it. "Thanks for everything. Tell Gardevoir I love her."

"You got it."

Lucario started back toward the jeep when he heard a scream coming from the playground area. He dashed that way.

N punched Sean in the stomach, doubling him over.

"Why'd you leave?" N whispered in his ear. He stood aside and let Sean fall to the ground. "Why'd you leave me to tame two gods? Why'd you leave Plasma?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Sean wheezed.

"Bullshit!" The police wanted to intervene, but decided against it. The only reason he paid a bribe to the police was because they felt that if they were caught being bribed to let a criminal in, it would sound better than letting him in because they were scared.

"Please, I have amnesia…"

"Zekrom bonded with me and Reshiram was bonding with you. When you left it went on a rampage! It nearly destroyed Unova! Plasma had to move to Johto because it destroyed our whole fucking facility! Zekrom hurtled into a volcano with it and they both died! You did all of this to your own brothers, to your father, to your mother? You did this to Reshiram?" N kicked Sean in the side repeatedly. Sean screamed.

"Bastard! Fucking! Die! Worthless! Piece! Of! Shit!"

Lucario had heard everything. He ran past the police and the yellow tape and tackled N.

"I meant for Team Plasma to fall. I meant for you and both the gods to die."

"We were best friends! We were brothers!" N said as Lucario punched him in the face. He had no idea that Lucario was the one speaking and not Sean.

"If Team Plasma ever rears its head again, I'll destroy it!"

"I'll kill you Sean!"

"Try it." Lucario knocked N out and stood, grabbing Sean and giving a feral look to the Jenny's coming to restrain him.

"I'll kill all of you if you interfere." Lucario bluffed. The Jenny's reached for their pistols, unphased.

Lucario sent an aura sphere at their feet that blew the ground out in front of them. He dragged Sean toward the Jeep.

"What the fuck is going on?" Daylan asked as Sean got into the backseat.

"You already know each other." Lucario said. "So no need for introductions. We're taking him to Cherry Grove City."

This threw a tiny wrench in his plans, but Daylan didn't think it mattered if he helped transport his Sean clone.

"Why is he coming?" Daylan asked.

Lucario explained. Daylan nodded and frowned.

Now Team Plasma was involved. An unknown variable. Daylan hated unknown variables.

"Let's go." Daylan said and the jeep started on the long road to Cherry Grove.


	3. Act Three: Return to Cherry Grove City

Act Three: Return To Cherry Grove City

"What do matters in Johto have to do with Sinnoh?" Nichelle asked, sitting back in the red leather sofa facing the desk of the president of Sinnoh. The president wore a typical suit, but unlike her suit, her demeanor had changed over the last few months.

She had a hole that needed to be plugged before it could leak. This man had been the one who helped put her in office. Now that he had moved out of Sinnoh, now that his facilities had been moved, he had no use for her. She had to send a hundred thousand dollars to a bank in Onyx City every month in exchange for his not revealing how she got into office using illicit means. Sinnoh was falling into bankruptcy. She couldn't afford to send money to a criminal using money that should have been going to pay all the debt the country was incurring. Like it or not, Team Rocket had kept the country stable. They had been excellent in the political field and while they had done a lot of terrible things, they had also done some great things like free health care and better Pokemon Centers. The moment they disappeared and the new president was put in power was the moment Sinnoh started to fall apart politically and monetarily.

"Does it matter?" President Sillindra asked, her voice tense. "Go to Johto and kill Daylan Hernandez. I want his head on my desk within the next two days. If you fail…"

Nichelle stood and pulled a pistol from the folds of her jacket, aiming it at the president's head. Secret Service agents had been told to stand outside of the room, Sillindra did not want to be overheard. If this assassin wanted to kill her, she could. She wouldn't make it out of the president's mansion alive, but she would have at least killed the leading political figure in Sinnoh.

"I don't fail." Nichelle said. "And even if I could, I would see a bullet through your skull before you could even think about having me killed." She put her pistol back in her jacket and stood. "Daylan will die." She exited the room and the secret service agents escorted her out. The Secretary of Defense glanced quickly at them before entering the presidents room.

"How are you doing?" He asked, leaning against the sofa.

"I need something for my migraine." Sillindra muttered, setting her head on the top of her desk.

Devon and Cristian stood in the cramped little apartment with seven other people. They milled about, waiting expectantly for somebody to pipe up and say something interesting. Devon was going to take it upon himself when Cristian put a finger to his lips. He didn't need the man to say anything stupid. It was bad enough living with the guy and running an underground military operation that could be considered a terrorist group with him. He'd insulted enough people in the group over the past year they had been operating together. Every time Cristian even thought about killing Devon though, the man exhibited this strange, childlike behavior where he fondled his Pokemon and danced with them like they were at a club. Then Cristian was made to look at his own moral values and realize he couldn't kill a man who was obviously retarded.

"Hey mate, I have something I want to talk about. You can quit holding onto my dangly-bits like a wife with her husband. Let me speak."

Cristian looked at Devon with a sly smile. "Every time you speak you say something offensive and I am not going to allow you to insult anyone here, okay? Last time I let you speak to a group of people they threatened to kill you if you didn't shut up. Last time a woman was over here you scared her away by talking about…something."

"I said, and I quote, "Wow, look at her like a dead heat in a Zeppelin race". How was she insulted when she didn't even understand what the hell I was talking about?"

"I still don't know what that means." Cristian said.

"I was obviously speaking of her bristols."

"What?"

"Her boobs you wanker!" Devon sighed. "Christ, how a girl can be insulted by something when she doesn't know what it means…"

"You proceeded to grab them and fondle them yelling "Bellossom, oh how I love you!"."

"I was drunk. Bugger off."

"Drunk on tea and crumpets?" Cristian asked.

"Well look at bertie big bollocks. "Oh ho ho, my foreign friend likes his tea so let's exploit it at every given opportunity". I'm done having verbal diarrhea with a marmite miner."

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Cristian asked before a woman of about medium height with long, flowing black hair approached him and took him aside, leaving Devon alone. He walked into the kitchen where a fat guy was searching for something to go with his beer.

"Bugger off." Devon got him out of the way and started making tea.

"A woman checked into a hotel downtown. She came with a duffel bag that seemed to weigh a lot more than it should. One of our guys was walking the street when he saw her. He's a friend of the owner of the hotel and found out that her name was Lucy White. He has a strange feeling that she's here to talk to the Yakuza so I decided to have the guy who first saw her follow her around discreetly. I had another guy ask around about her. Apparently she came from Sinnoh on a cruise ship. The ship goes back in about thirty-six hours."

"You think Miyagi is moving into Sinnoh?" Cristian asked.

"Could be." Lily replied, tapping the heel of one of her combat boots against the tile floor. She was covered in tattoos, had piercings all over her body and wore black, tight clothes typically. She wasn't exactly Cristian's type, but she was still pretty hot in his opinion. She avoided Devon at all costs, finding that as far as leaders go, Cristian was the only one. Devon was only a co-leader to meet some sort of quota concerning disabled people she figured. She wasn't the only person who did not understand what the hell Devon was doing as the leader of the organization. Everyone was wondering.

"He's actually useful sometimes." Cristian had told her after Devon had drunkenly fondled her breasts which led her to avoid coming to meetings for a month. They spoke at a restaurant during a hot summer day. "Despite all his eccentricities and his…foreignness…he's actually a good tactician and a useful member of the organization. He was the one who planned the creation of a fake Yakuza to lure Miyagi's forces away from Cherry Grove so we could focus on killing him."

Three months later, Miyagi was still alive and the organization had not really gotten anywhere. This was why Cristian has started getting into contact with Daylan. If this man could supply them with what they needed and take down Miyagi, then they would finally end their cause and Johto would be free of the problems associated with the Yakuza.

"When's he supposed to meet us?" Lily asked.

"In three hours. That's why I got everyone together. I need everyone to start scouting the area where the deal will go down. I also need guards to set themselves up. I don't trust this guy at all."

"You want me to tell everyone to quit getting drunk and start working?"

"Yeah." Cristian patted her shoulder. "Thanks Lil."

"No problem."

"Your first job as my bodyguard will be to protect me from an assassin." Daylan explained as they neared Cherry Grove City. "Believe it or not, one of your older friends was actually an acquaintance of mine. Scientists of course tend to be friends with each other, especially distinguished ones such as myself and Sillindra." He paused for dramatic effect. "Have you ever wondered how a lowly scientist is able to enter the political field and in a measly three weeks attain the seat of presidency held only by an elite few, typically with experience in politics?" Daylan poked his chest. "I pulled some strings, I completely erased all of her records and replaced them, and I released some inappropriate pictures of her political rivals with prostitutes, as well as put a file of child pornography on a particularly qualified opponents laptop."

"And in return?"

"She gave me a million dollars straight from the pockets of Sinnoh's voters and sent me one hundred thousand dollars every month ever since to keep me quiet. She'd have quite a problem if I decided to leak how she got in office. Can you not believe that your friend did that?"

Lucario shook his head. "I never much trusted Sillindra. To her I was a science experiment. I was nothing more. I knew when she became the president of Sinnoh there was some bullshit politics involved. I never thought you were involved. Anyway, shouldn't you be keeping this secret?"

"Not when she sends an assassin after me." Daylan took a bottle of water from the cup holder jutting from the car door to his side and took a long gulp of the cool liquid. "I think it's about time I send everything to all the newspapers in Sinnoh and Johto." He said as he screwed the cap back onto his water bottle.

"How do you know she sent an assassin?" Lucario asked.

"Her Secretary of Defense told me. Just as she was put in the position through illicit means by me, so was he. He was insurance. All he had to do was tell me when she ever thought of attacking me or he ever saw anything strange. He said he did see a woman leave Sillindra's office and gave me a description. On top of that, a bullet was left on her sofa that she neglected to notice. It had initials on it that the Secretary found no value in, but helped me pinpoint who the person who left her office was."

"Who was it?"

"Nichelle Grazer. A rather well known assassin in Sinnoh. Well, as well known as an assassin can be. Originally, get this, a member of Team Rocket back when Giovanni was in control." Daylan pulled a laptop from under the driver's seat in front of him.

"Mmm…" Sean slumped against the door, asleep. He had been like this the whole trip. Lucario sat in between him and Daylan. Daylan appreciated the fact the clone wasn't speaking and was sleeping. It allowed him time to speak to Lucario.

"Why now?" Lucario asked.

"Sillindra's probably getting caught on to, either that or she has finally decided that she doesn't want to pay me for something of this nature when I'm an unknown variable and could leak the information anyway. She's smart; just like me she hates unknown variables."

Daylan pulled up a whole file on Nichelle and turned it for Lucario to read.

"Left the organization after Giovanni's execution. Has hit a few big targets. Owners of businesses mostly. Never a political target. Sillindra must find me a really easy target. She'll be surprised."

"Are we there yet?" Sean asked sleepily. "I want to get back to work."

"I have already emailed the Pokemon Center in Cherry Grove. You will have a job there, rest assured." Daylan said. "Now go back to sleep. You had a long night last night."

"You're telling me." Sean murmured before returning to dreamland.

"I'm going to start working on compiling all of my evidence of Sillindra's illicit activities." Daylan said, setting his laptop in his lap and moving his fingers across the keyboard deftly. "Rest up. I have a feeling we're in for a long day."

Nichelle had noticed her tail all morning. He wasn't very good. He ducked into dark alleyways and would look at the wares being displayed in windows while she made her way around the city trying to find leads. She had thirty-five hours to find Daylan. It wasn't a very long time considering he could be anywhere in Johto. She believed she'd find him though. He couldn't be that elusive.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder, seeing a figure run into the doorway of a restaurant. Nichelle smiled and did an about-face, walking toward the doorway. The man peeked out and his eyes got buggy when Nichelle came toward him. He attempted to enter the restaurant as nonchalantly as he could but couldn't pull it off. Nichelle kicked him in the back and threw him, sprawling, to the wooden floor of the restaurant. Inside, a waitress of about nineteen with long blond hair and a pink and white waitress outfit on was refilling an elderly man's coffee cup. Everyone stopped what they were doing as Nichelle grabbed her tail by his collar and lifted him from the ground.

He flailed around as Nichelle brought her knee into his kidneys, knocking the breath from him. She looked over his shoulder and saw the waitress running to the kitchen and her eyes slit. She didn't need the police being called or anything getting in between herself and the target. Time was ticking and she knew that this tail was going to make her lose a lot of time.

People were pulling their cell phones from their pockets and Nichelle hurried along with her interrogation.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked, pulled a pistol from her jacket and shoving the barrel against the man's forehead. He started to shake and sweat.

"I'm just a member of a resistance group. Don't shoot!" He panicked.

"What resistance?"

"Against the Miyagi Yakuza!"

"Do you know of a man named Daylan? Answer me right and I'll spare you. Answer me wrong and I'm sure you know what will happen."

Tsubaki cracked an egg onto the griddle and started to flip hash browns when Amy ran inside in her cute waitress uniform, her tray pressed tightly against her breasts. She started to explain what was happening and Tsubaki looked at her with that glazed over expression she always seemed to have. Zangoose stopped chopping up vegetables and meat and looked at the waitress. The girl seemed visibly shaken. Violence wasn't something she was used to.

By the time Tsubaki got the motivation to see what was happening, the attacker had disappeared, but the attacked lay in a pile on the floor. She started toward him, Zangoose at her side.

The door swung open and a man with curly black hair strode inside with three other men. Following on their heels were two Pokemon. Tsubaki took an instant interest in one of them.

"Lu-lucario?"

Lucario hadn't wanted to enter the building for a quick breakfast but everyone else in the jeep wanted something to eat and knew that what had once been called The Golden Kitchen and was now known even less originally as Tsubaki's, complete with a new paintjob and a refurbished inside, was the best place in town to grab some grub. Lucario was not allowed to stay in the jeep, as a bodyguard he had to stay with the man he was guarding at all times. Lucario thought it might have been something Daylan had devised for whatever reason.

The moment he entered he saw a man lying on the ground in pain. He was back in the world he had been avoiding and everywhere he turned there was someone in pain, a dead body, and someone who either wanted him or wanted him dead.

Daylan didn't mind the man on the floor and neither did the bodyguards. Sean gave the man a cursory glance before sitting at a booth with everyone else. Mewtwo was watching Lucario with all of his might. He didn't trust him. He didn't know why his master wanted the wild card along for the ride. Maybe Daylan had bigger plans.

Lucario held a paw out for the man on the ground. The man thanked the Lucario as he tried to stand erect but his knees buckled. Lucario helped him to the booth everyone else was sitting at.

"Please, get me out of here. The police will show up and…"

"Let me deal with them." Lucario told him, setting him down. Daylan and the man made eye contact and the man pointed a long finger at him.

"You're the supplier."

Lucario was about to sit down when Zangoose prodded his foot with one of his claws.

"Fucking fucker fuckity fuck." Zangoose said.

"I see your mouth is still a hole filled with filth." Lucario murmured.

This confirmed he was Lucario and not just a random one.

"I see you think you can just walk in here without letting me beat the shit out of you." Zangoose hopped in the air and his claws flew toward Lucario's neck. Lucario created an aura shield around himself and Zangoose bounced off of it, doing a backflip to the floor.

"You left us! You left Tsubaki! You worthless bastard!" His claws flashed out again and Lucario dodged every slash.

Mewtwo was about to enter the fray but Daylan held out his hand.

"I didn't think you wanted to protect Lucario." Daylan smiled. "Are you getting sentimental?"

Mewtwo growled. Daylan chuckled.

Tsubaki stood, transfixed. Some of her customers were leaving, muttering about the unsafe conditions they were eating their meal. Some stayed and enjoyed the battle as a kind of show to go with their food. She watched her Zangoose score a hit above Lucario's eye. A couple drops of blood splashed against the wooden floor.

"S-stop." She whispered.

"You left Tsubaki a wreak! You left everyone behind! Miyagi owns Johto because you didn't fight! You ran away the moment your stupid ass girlfriend died! You asshole!" Zangoose was stopped as Lucario lifted his paw and an aura sphere manifested itself in it. A feral look crossed his face as he watched the remaining people in the room run for the door. The aura sphere was growing larger and larger and Zangoose knew he was dead.

He closed his eyes, figuring it was all over. A few seconds later he opened an eye and saw Tsubaki hugging Lucario tightly, the aura sphere becoming a tiny ball at Lucario's side that eventually disappeared.

"Please…stop fighting." Tsubaki managed to get out. She hugged Lucario tighter than Zangoose thought she should. This was the guy who ruined her past eighteen months. How could she be so accepting of him?

Zangoose couldn't help but smile when Tsubaki smacked Lucario across the snout, snapping his head ninety degrees. He nodded his approval.

"Why'd you leave me?" Tsubaki asked. "At least you could have told me what you were doing before you left or come by every once in a while. I was worried about you!" She hugged him tighter, tears falling down her cheeks. "This is your home and you shouldn't run from your home."

Lucario closed his eyes. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "I was grieving over Jenny. Then I met a girl, Lopunny. We became best friends. And she disappeared from my life. She made me happy. We were…in love. And it was something we could actually have. I had to search for her. And now the search has taken me here."

Tsubaki looked at the men Lucario had entered with and picked out one of the faces. "Is that you?" She asked in a whisper. She didn't seem to be able to speak in anything more than that.

"There's a lot of things I have to explain to you." Lucario said. "But right now, could we just get breakfast? I have a job I need to do in a half an hour. After that, I'll tell you everything. I promise."

Tsubaki released Lucario from her hug and Zangoose saw something spread across her face that he hadn't seen in a year and a half. A smile. He shook his head. She was being too nice to the asshole.

Amy stopped at the table with menus. After coffee had been distributed to the men, the chief of police waddled into the restaurant.

Lucario took him aside. The chief was surprised to see him but happy. Lucario had been given a badge. After Lucario explained everything the chief nodded and told him he'd come up with an excuse for what took place. They parted ways, but not before the chief offered to take Lucario out for drinks some night.

Sean Ratchet had been left behind by all of Daylan's group, sitting with half a plate of eggs. Amy started clearing plates and occasionally snuck a glance at him.

"So, why'd your friends leave you behind?" She asked, just as much out of curiosity as her want to strike up conversation with the man.

"We're not friends." He answered. "They just bussed me here so I can start work at the Pokemon Center."

"Do you know where it is?" Amy asked.

"No. Can you give me directions by chance?" Sean prodded an egg with his fork.

"Better yet, I'll take my break and walk you there. How about that?"

Sean looked at the waitress. She was his age, had on a cute waitress outfit, had a cute face. He may as well see where this led him. He was starting a new life in Cherry Grove City. He had an apartment that Daylan had rented for him, as well as a new job. Maybe the waitress was a gift from the fates for all the crap he was going through.

"I'm Sean Ratchet." He said.

"Amy Archer." She beamed. "Give me a few minutes to get these out of the way and I can take you there."

Sean's spot in the jeep had been replaced by the resistance fighter. Daylan had questioned him thoroughly and learned that he had cracked under the pressure and told Nichelle absolutely everything. She would be gunning for Daylan at the meeting, a meeting that was only two minutes away. She had committed one of the gravest errors an assassin could commit. She left a man she had gotten information from alive. That meant he could tell the other people involved and prepare a counter-attack.

"Be prepared for anything." Daylan told Lucario.

"The scouts are patrolling?" Cristian asked Lily as she finished her inspection of the area. The place chosen for the negotiations over the weapons was a small stretch of beach. Cristian had no idea whether the beach was the greatest place to conduct what should have been a secretive exchange or not, but nonetheless, it was where he chose to do it and there was no turning back now. Devon was splashing water playfully on his Bellossom while all the big boys did their work. Cristian didn't care, it kept him out of the way.

"Scouts are all in place. Two minutes until they should be here." Lily held a pistol in her left hand. She checked the slide and made sure a bullet was in place before starting toward the point she was to guard.

Cristian held a silver briefcase in his hands. It weighed a ton, all of the money he had saved up from all the campaigns against the Yakuza was in one place, waiting to get in the hands of a supplier who could screw him over for all he knew.

But it was his last choice. If the resistance's battle with the Miyagi family went on any further, they would surely all die.

The jeep stopped at the curb and Daylan got out and looked around. A set of stairs led down to the beach. He peeked over a railing and down at the assembled mass of resistance fighters. He noticed a couple were staring at him from across the street. He nodded and his bodyguards came out and opened the trunk, pulling three cases out. Mewtwo hopped off the top of the jeep and Lucario got out. They met next to Daylan who pointed at the ground at his feet. The two nodded and Daylan and his bodyguards made their way down to the exchange.

"If anything happens, let me take care of it." Mewtwo said.

Lucario laughed. "I can take care of it." He pointed at the scratch above his eye. "This is nothing."

"I worry for you. Who knows how sentimental you'll get when you find out the assassin is a long lost cousin."

"Fuck you." Lucario started to walk away. "I can take care of this."

"He has two bodyguards, a Mewtwo and Lucario." Nichelle said. Sillindra held the phone tight against her ear. The mere mention of a Lucario brought images of Sean Ratchet to her mind. If it was Sean Ratchet that was with Daylan, which was a distinct possibility considering the fact they knew each other from Sinnoh (well, Sean knew Daylan's clone). If the Lucario was Sean Ratchet, that was a problem. That Lucario had proven itself to be more powerful than any Lucario Sillindra had ever seen. If Nichelle were made to fight him…

"Don't go headfirst. Use a long range weapon. Whatever you do, do not engage the Lucario!"

Across the sea, approaching the exchange on a boat she stole from a mansion along the beach, Nichelle smiled and ended the cell phone call.

Lucario was the first person to notice the ship as he walked away from Mewtwo. It was close to the shore and Lucario did not like the look of it one bit. He noticed a woman with binoculars in the cabin. She turned the binoculars on the exchange, then on Mewtwo, then started searching for Lucario.

He hopped over the railing, landing softly on the beach. He started to run for the boat. A sudden spray of machine gun fire stopped him.

The assassin was here.

Mewtwo watched two vans approach from the left. One of them slowed down and the driver appeared to ask the two resistance members on guard duty for directions. Before they could answer his question their heads snapped back. The shooter sped forward and the second van followed closely.

Mewtwo ran for them, sending an aura sphere into the air.

"What's that?" Cristian asked, watching the aura sphere explode in the air.

"The alarm system." Daylan answered.

"Sir!" One of the resistance guys pointed toward a boat down the beach.

"Why's Lucario alone? Where's Mewtwo?"

"Cristian!" Lily held her radio in one hand and her pistol in the other. "Robinson and Cruz aren't responding."

"They're topside too!" Cristian cursed. "Split up! Support the Lucario and the Mewtwo!"

Daylan kept his guards down at the exchange as insurance. Just in case things got out of hand.

"Shit!" Nichelle wanted to scream. Things had gotten way out of hand. The Lucario and Mewtwo were supposed to be distracted by the Yakuza she had tipped off above. That was when she would drive by in the boat and take out everyone in the exchange.

She had a machine gun trained on the Lucario and squeezed the trigger, hoping to hit it. It had a shield up though, a huge black globe that surrounded it in pure energy. All of the bullets bounced off.

She was going to have to change to Plan B.

She steered the boat out into the ocean, hoping the Lucario didn't have the ability to fly God forbid.

Mewtwo sent an aura sphere at the lead van. The moment it smashed against the white vehicle's side it flipped over. Mewtwo brought up an aura shield as the men in the second van started streaming out, machine guns raining lead at him.

He felt a tiny impact against his shield and looked to find the hand of a man with green hair and a Bellossom tight against his chest on it. "You mind if you share that mate? I came up for a towel, not to be killed."

Mewtwo sighed and ran at the Yakuza.

Nichelle stood on the keel of the boat, a rocket launcher aimed directly at the exchange. She saw the Lucario in her way and smiled. That would be another problem out of the way.

The aura sphere he was holding started to grow in size, becoming enormous. He aimed it at Nichelle's ship.

She shot the rocket launcher and Lucario let off the aura sphere.

The rocket met the aura sphere and exploded. The resulting explosion created a giant wave that smashed against the side of Nichelle's ship, capsizing it and sending her into the ocean.

"Excellent job Lucario." Daylan said, picking up his briefcase of money. "Let's see how they're doing topside."

Daylan, Lucario, and Mewtwo sat in the backseat, the two guards up front.

"It appears the assassin tipped off the Yakuza to our location. Thankfully, Mewtwo cleaned that up." Daylan had the briefcase of money open on his lap. "Sillindra will be out of office in another couple of hours. I can assure you of that." Daylan sighed. "The assassin is probably still alive. It'll be a long swim to shore, but we may have to deal with her again."

"So is that it?" Lucario asked.

"Far from it. I've sold your services to the resistance."

"You what?"

"You will be working with them for a while. Meanwhile, I will search for Lopunny and return her to you while you finish your obligation to me. By the time everything is over, we'll all be happy." Daylan held out his hand as the jeep stopped. "Lopunny will be returned to this restaurant when we find her. "

Lucario put his paw in the man's hand and they shook. Lucario got out of the jeep and it sped away. He entered Tsubaki's and sat down in a booth. The waitress was out, so Tsubaki was waiting on people. When she saw him she finished what she was doing and went to his booth.

She slid next to him and hugged him. "Welcome home Lucario." She said. "Your spot on the couch has been left untouched."

"Where did the waitress go?"

"Amy? She went with um…you. Can you explain what's going on?"

Lucario nodded. "It's a long story. I'll tell you after the shop closes. Maybe over dinner."

Tsubaki smiled. "Are you back for good? Please say yes."

Lucario closed his eyes. "I don't know." He saw Tsubaki's sad look and shook his head. "But I hope so. When Daylan brings Lopunny to me, we're going to need somewhere to stay."

"You can stay with me!" She exclaimed. "You two can share the couch!"

"Thank you." Lucario said. "I might have to take you up on that offer."

Amy came in and Tsubaki stood up to meet her.

"Did you hear what happened at the beach?" Amy asked. She then looked at Lucario and let out a cute little "eep".

"I can explain everything." Lucario said.

"So what's next?" The bodyguard in the driver seat asked, turning down Main Street and starting toward Daylan's laboratory in Goldenrod City.

"We have the Lucario's DNA." Daylan motioned toward the trunk. "We need to start work on the clone. While that's being produced we'll head back to Onyx City and take it easy."

"Will we transport the Lopunny back to Lucario?"

"Two days. That should be enough time." Daylan sat back. "We've got the Lucario back into the middle of everything."

"Not cloning the Lopunny?" The bodyguard in the passenger seat asked.

"What's the point?" Daylan asked. "She has no value to me. As long as Lucario doesn't screw up my plans or get in my way, I don't care how happy he is. I'm not in the business of killing innocent Pokemon or cloning them and handing the clones to people for whatever reason."

"What about the assassin and Sillindra?"

"Sillindra will be out of office in another hour, if even. The assassin has no reason to continue after me. Though I feel for reasons concerning pride she will attempt to kill Lucario."

"By having the Lucario in the middle of everything, what are you hoping to accomplish?" The driver asked.

"It means business will go up." Daylan laughed. "Watch Ketchum come after me wanting help."

"Sinnoh's president has been taken out of office in handcuffs after it was exposed that she gained the office through help from a wanted criminal and terrorist." The newswoman said. Lucario was only half paying attention as he explained everything to Tsubaki, Amy, and Zangoose. It took him a half an hour to tell them everything. When he was done, Tsubaki pulled out a Pokeball and shoved it in his face.

"If I have to shove you in this thing, I will. Don't leave without telling me first. And don't leave for a year and a half."

"You got it." Lucario didn't realize how much he missed his life with Tsubaki. Now that he was home, he did see how much he missed being with his gentle trainer and the potty-mouthed Zangoose. And Amy was a really nice person too.

They talked for a couple of hours before going to bed. The sofa was the most comfortable place Lucario had slept in a long time. He had happy dreams of Lopunny and him living in the house together.

"He's more like a Pokemon than he was before." Tsubaki told Zangoose as she lay in bed.

"That's for sure. He isn't in love with a human girl. He's in love with a Lopunny. That's enough to prove he's getting to be more like a Lucario."

"Do you think he'll ever totally change? His mind will just become that of a Lucario?"

"No. I think he let that change in mindset come on himself. He wants to remain somewhat human in mind, but wants to act like a Pokemon more." Zangoose shrugged. "He's weird."

"Will he leave?"

Zangoose shook his head. "I think he missed us more than he realized."

Tsubaki smiled and fell asleep.


	4. Act Four: Lovers and Enemies Reunited

Act Four: Lovers and Enemies Reunited

He stood in the forest, the sun breaking through the leaves and providing a bit of warmth. Beside him, her hand around his stomach and her cheek against his shoulder, Lopunny felt like this was the perfect moment, the kind of time you just wish everything would slow down so you could enjoy it even more. She felt warm against Lucario, not only warm on the outside, but on the inside. It was a strange feeling that she'd never felt before, the kind of feeling she guessed came with falling in love. She'd never been in love before, nor had she ever thought she'd fall for the blue Pokemon that she now clung to. They had been good friends for the past few months. She had really liked him, but it wasn't until he saved her from a colony of Beedrills that she fell in love with him. He protected her, he took care of her. She hadn't realized that normal friends didn't stand so closely together and follow each other everywhere. She'd never really had any friends. When she asserted her true feelings for him it had been embarrassing to admit, but he accepted them wholeheartedly and even expressed that he felt for her as well. Since that day, she'd never felt so warm. Since that day, she'd never known she could love a person as much as she loved Lucario. He was all she cared about.

He looked up through the leaves at the perfectly blue sky. Lopunny did as well. He had a habit of doing that, just pointlessly staring at the sky. Maybe he was just thinking. She didn't want to intrude upon his thoughts if he was, so never asked. She didn't particularly care either, it gave her more time to hold onto him. His arm wrapped around her and she was pushed even tighter against him as he stared to the heavens. Lucario turned to look at her and smiled as best he could.

"I was thinking about all of the places I want to take you." Lucario said. "To the beach. There are these huge canyons up north and a jungle with three waterfalls that are right next to each other. They say it's beautiful."

"You'd really take me to all those places?" Lopunny asked.

Lucario nodded. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

Lopunny turned Lucario around and their mouths met.

"I don't care where we go, as long as I'm with you." She said after pulling away from his face. They stood in a tight embrace for a long time before they decided to lay against a tree together and take a nap. Lopunny rested her head on Lucario's shoulder and he rested his head on her head.

When he woke up, she had disappeared with the signs of a fight. Grass had been cut up, there were flecks of blood. Later on, Treecko, who had been sleeping nearby when Lucario and Lopunny had decided to walk together, told Lucario he heard a scuffle.

It was then he began his long search for Lopunny.

"She will have no memories of the past eight months. She's been in a coma essentially." Daylan took a bite from his sandwich and tapped his pencil against his chin. "When we give her to Lucario she will have no idea of what took place. She'll know she fell asleep for a very long time, but she won't know the circumstances. Lucario will never be able to find out that we in fact took her to lead him on."

"Why did we take eight months to finally get him into the thick of things?" Sven the bodyguard asked. "Why wasn't this automatic?"

"Simple." Daylan set his sandwich aside. "It's the perfect timing. All of the sides are in place and Lucario is in the middle. The moment he starts fighting every side is the moment I start getting calls from prospective clients wanting to pay exorbitant fees for either lab Pokemon or weapons. That's why I created the Gardevoir clone to lead him on. I didn't know they'd build a strong relationship, but that doesn't matter. She did her job. She took him to Onyx City at the exact moment she needed to. Now, everything is coming together." Daylan started to type away on a computer console.

"She'll be asleep for another few hours. I expect you to get her to Cherry Grove City in that time frame. Drive like an idiot if you must, but she should not wake in the back of the jeep. She won't be able to say anything to Lucario about what happened, he'll just figure that we found her and brought her back, but I want you to personally tell him she was in a coma. We don't know why she was in the coma or who took her to the Pokemon Center in Goldenrod City. That should clear everything up."

"Yes sir." Sven watched as Daylan hefted the brown furred Pokemon from a standing table she had been strapped to for almost a year. He handed her to Sven.

"Don't let the Lucario catch on." Daylan turned around and left Sven to complete his task. He nodded at his boss's back and took the Lopunny out of the laboratory and to the jeep.

"So are you attracted to humans or Pokemon?" Amy Archer sat across from Lucario in Tsubaki's, a cup of coffee in front of her. He also had coffee but had to drink it out of a straw. It had been two days since he had gotten back to Cherry Grove City and in those two days he had accomplished very little. He'd met with Cristian once who told him that at this point in time they were focusing on training with the new weapons he acquired from Daylan and the resistance didn't need him. Cristian seemed nice enough and wanted Lucario to have some time to catch up with everyone. Lucario had told him what had been going on and most of his backstory, just so that Cristian didn't feel like a mole was infiltrating. Everything had gone well and Lucario would be called on when he was needed.

Right now he was relaxing and getting used to being in civilization and living with his master again.

Amy wanted to learn as much as she could about him. She had learned his whole story, minus the fact that he was once Sean Ratchet. Instead Tsubaki came up with a fake name. She had learned that Sean Ratchet (the clone) and Amy were hanging out a lot and didn't want her to feel weird about anything. Lucario was happy to answer all of her questions and realized that if he were still a human, he would be attracted to her. So it was fairly obvious to understand why his clone was attracted to her.

"I still understand attraction to human females. I can tell that you are attractive." Amy blushed slightly. "But I feel more for female Pokemon."

"How do Pokemon, you know, date? Humans go out to restaurants and Pokemon battles…"

"I know," Lucario cut Amy off, "I was human."

Amy blushed. "Sorry."

"Pokemon don't date per se, but when two are in love they tend to travel around together. They stay close almost like a married couple of humans. Eventually they mate."

"So there's no courting ritual? You don't get married?"

"If two Pokemon love each other enough to stay together after mating, they develop a special bond. Pokemon aren't well known for staying with each other after mating but a few do and most leave because they don't want to be bonded."

"What do you mean bonded?"

"it's like a Pokemon/trainer bond. It means nobody can capture you, it means you are exclusively under the control of whoever you are bonded to."

"Wow, that's really cute. Humans can just go out and party and have sex with whoever after they get married. But if you stay together after mating, you have sworn to always stay with each other no matter what."

"Pretty much."

"So did you and Lopunny…"

"We did plan on staying together." Lucario said, his voice growing somber. "When she comes back, we're going to bond ourselves."

Amy smiled. "I can't wait to meet her. I bet she's really cute. And the two of you together! You'd be like a big ball of love and cuteness." She clasped her hands together and wiggled like a worm.

"What's wrong?" Lucario asked.

Amy blushed again. "Sorry, cute things just make me do that." She took a drink of her coffee then smiled. "So, do you like being a Pokemon better than being a human?"

Lucario gave that some thought. "They each had their advantages and disadvantages. I liked having opposable digits. I liked being tall. But at the same time, I really like being a Pokemon. I just feel…like a belong in this body if that makes any sense. Back when I was a human, I wasn't the most social creature, I wasn't the most outgoing person. I didn't have many friends. When I became a Pokemon I got friends, I got a family. I was getting things I was missing in my life as a human. And I like this lifestyle. I don't have to work, I can just sit around and be as lazy as I want."

"If you could, would you turn back into a human?" Amy asked.

Lucario thought again. "No. I have Lopunny and I have Tsubaki and I have a home. I prefer this life. I prefer being a Lucario."

"Lopunny must mean a lot to you." Amy said.

"When you meet her you'll see why." Lucario's voice was happy.

"I can't wait to meet her! And I want you two to hug and let me take a picture! It will be so cute!" She started wiggling again. Lucario sighed.

"We pay your salaries! How dare you have one of your men destroy one of our operations and then be caught in a transaction with a wanted felon! What kind of police precinct is this? There are more criminals in here than there are on the streets!" Chairman Miyagi was fuming, smoke was literally coming out of his ears. He stood in an interrogation room with the chief of police. He wore a black suit and was leaning heavily on a cane. Two of his bodyguards stood outside of the room, each carrying two pistols and a grenade.

"The only reason you pay our salaries Chairman," the chief said the last word sarcastically, "is because you run the g0vernment. If we had a government not run by criminals then the department would be paid by the taxpayers. You can't boost our salaries and expect us to turn a blind eye to the law. We have a code, and that code is more important than the money we make. If it weren't for the fact you have political immunity, we'd take you down and put you on Steel Island where your ass belongs." The chief smiled and sat back, steeling himself for the shit storm Miyagi was about to spew.

"You touch me, and you will die a thousand times over!"

The chief nodded. "And you touch anyone in the precinct, and I will personally come to your door and blow your brains out. I don't care how powerful you are, you're scum. You touch Cristian Hernandez and this whole precinct will follow me."

"You don't care that he was negotiating with a wanted felon?"

"Why should I? Nobody else caught it but you. And I could just as easily tell the whole world that you sent men out to kill him and caused the ruckus two days ago. It wouldn't look good for your public image."

"You asshole."

The chief smiled. "I don't like you. I don't like the Yakuza. That's all there is to it. I'll not talk about two days ago, but if you fuck with my guys again…"

"So you are in on the resistance?" Miyagi asked. "That's why they get away with what they do."

"You gonna claim police corruption? Who will listen to that?"

"You understand I run Johto's government. I'll see you taken down."

"Good luck finding any proof to show."

"I don't need proof. All I need is money." Miyagi stood and hobbled out of the room.

A couple of minutes later Cristian walked in with two Styrofoam cups of coffee. He set one in front of his boss and took the seat recently evacuated by Miyagi.

"I'd assume it didn't go well." Cristian blew out a breath. "Sorry about all the trouble. I didn't want the precinct to get in the crossfire. I was hoping this would be over before he started threatening your job."

"I won't let that gimp take me down. I've done too much for this city to let that asshole take me down because I'm doing my job. I'm not going to fire you or throw you to him because of what you do. I want to keep everything you do off the record though. I don't want anybody else knowing I endorse what you do. I'm essentially endorsing terrorism."

"Thank you sir. And I feel you have the right to know that the guys and me are attacking Miyagi's mansion tonight."

"Oh crap." The chief shook his head. "I don't want to go to another funeral for a friend."

Cristian smiled. "That deal that went down two days ago netted me some invaluable weaponry. These things haven't been patented and cost an arm and a leg, but they are fantastic."

"What are they?"

"I don't know the physics behind it, but it creates aura, like the kind a Pokemon can collect and send in a ball. The gun can be used in three ways. One is as a machine gun, shooting tiny blasts of aura. The second is as a shotgun, shooting normal sized balls of aura like a Lucario can. The third is as a rocket launcher. It takes about twenty-five seconds to create it, but the ball is large enough to destroy half a house."

"So you can charge it to make the ball larger?"

"Right."

The chief nodded. "That's pretty damn cool. So can you charge it past that rocket launcher stage?"

"No. You do that and the whole gun will overload and BANG! there goes your arms and probably the rest of you."

"Anything else?"

"We have a Lucario."

"Oh God!" The chief laughed. "So that's why Lucario came back? You should have been here when he destroyed Kishimoto. Holy shit! Kishimoto had a nice mansion, but I have to say that after Lucario painted it red, it looked gaudy."

Cristian smiled. "So he's not a normal Lucario? He came as a bonus of the deal. I figured he was just a Lucario, nothing special."

The chief laughed. "That Lucario is like a demon. The body count he's racked up is incredible."

"So you know him?"

"Yeah, he's a cop. I gave him a badge and everything."

"You…gave a Pokemon a badge?"

The chief stood and slid his chair under the table. "As you're surely soon to find out, he's more than a Pokemon."

"So here's the deal mate," Devon plopped onto Tsubaki's sofa and crossed his legs, "we're attacking Miyagi's place tonight. We need you to come with us and spend the afternoon getting all the tactical crap out of the way and we'll have a nice supper before we go get our bollocks blown off."

Lucario shrugged his shoulders, loosening his joints. "You don't think we'll win?"

"We're running in like a bunch of eejits to get our nadgers kicked in a swedge." Devon said. "Of course we're going to lose." Lucario stared at him with wide eyes. "What, are you a smacktard like the rest of 'em? Don't understand my foreign speak?"

"No, but you remind me of this one guy I knew. Used to call me an uphill gardener."

Devon laughed. "So you understand me! Thank God…"

"I don't understand you. I don't even know what an uphill gardener is all these years later."

Devon stood up and stomped out. Lucario followed behind him.

"Bloody wankers don't understand anything." He muttered. "An uphill gardener must be a friendly lad, right Lucario?" He asked over his shoulder. Lucario shrugged. "It means you take it up the arse!"

"You should write a dictionary for this kind of stuff." Lucario replied.

"And you should quit being a wanker!"

"Is he always like that?" Lucario asked Cristian at the tiny apartment that served as headquarters. There were a few people milling about but it was an otherwise tiny meeting. If this was the whole group, Lucario had to agree with Devon that they were screwed. Miyagi's mansion would be highly guarded and reinforcements could come at a moment's notice. Six people and a Lucario against probably a hundred was not good odds. On top of that, Lucario had a feeling that Miyagi had some weapons that were a little more than machine guns. Like tanks. And maybe even a chopper. This man was paranoid about his protection. It had shown at Kishimoto's party a year and a half before.

"Devon is a strange guy." Cristian looked at the green haired man fondling his Bellossom. "He does that a lot. He's also hit on me more times than I wish he would. He's…um, grabbed my thighs once. It wasn't happy for me."

Lucario laughed. "So is this whole resistance that crazy?"

"No!" Cristian quickly said. "I'm a police detective. I'm straight-laced and I can show you all of my mental records if you're questioning my sanity or level of mental capability." He rested his hand on Lucario's shoulder. "The chief said some good things about you. I can't wait to see what you do tonight."

A black haired, goth-looking girl approached Cristian. "We need to get started."

Cristian looked at his watch then nodded. "Everyone shut the hell up and get over here. It's time to get to work."

Lucario ran to the perimeter wall, putting his back against a blind spot underneath a security camera swerving back and forth. Blaziken quickly joined him. Lucario watched the camera swerve to the right and he looked through the gate to his left quickly. A garden complete with fountains and statues and hedges clipped to look like Pokemon sat in perfect silence. A couple guards patrolled, a dull red glow coming from their cigarettes. Lucario moved back under the camera as it made its way leftward.

"Four guards." Lucario said telepathically. Blaziken nodded and waited under the camera with Lucario for a few minutes more. They couldn't get onto the wall without tripping sensor plates and waking the whole place up. They were to wait for Cristian and the rest of the resistance to get into position.

Cristian would be the one to wake the place up.

Cristian sat on a tree that hung over the wall of the mansion. He smiled slyly to himself. Whoever had fortified this mansion was stupid to leave a tree in a place that would allow intruders inside. He had a pair of night vision goggles on his head, courtesy of Daylan, and could see that it would still be a pain in the ass to get inside the mansion proper if you got over the tree. There were five Houndours in spots you wouldn't be able to see at the gates. There were also four guards equipped with pistols and what looked like knives. And this was just the backyard. The front was even larger and Cristian hadn't taken a gander at what to expect up there. He figured about ten guards and a lot of Houndour's though.

"Swellow!"

Cristian looked up and saw a red and blue bird flying by. The guards all looked up at it and reached for their pistols.

"Oh bugger." Devon said beside Cristian.

Cristian started charging his gun. "I guess we better get started."

Devon shot the Swellow through the breast. It dropped like a rock, blood and feathers following as it fell.

The ball on Cristian's weapon got larger and larger. He counted the seconds and stood on the wall, not caring if the alarm went off. The moment his foot touched the top of the wall, spotlights turned on, an alarm bell went off, and he heard the bark of the Houndours.

He jumped to the ground and let loose the giant ball of pure aura, straight at the back of Miyagi's mansion.

Lucario and Blaziken got away from the wall and Blaziken ran to the gate, his foot combusting as he brought it up and around, slamming it open. He ran inside and Lucario followed suit then stopped.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed as he saw the back of Miyagi's mansion crumble, bricks and piping and glass cascading to the ground, obscuring whatever was left of the back of Miyagi's home in dust.

Lucario quit staring in awe at the destruction and began his work.

Lily followed Lucario and Blaziken in through the front gate from the darkness she and the rest of the resistance had been hiding in. Their weapons were up as Houndour's attacked from all sides. Shots rang from every corner of the backyard. She followed the route she had been given at the briefing, past two fountains and onto a cobblestone path flanked by hedges. A Yakuza guard appeared at the end of the hedges and Lily brought her machine gun up, sending tiny aura bullets at the man. All five shots hit, leaving pen sized holes in his chest. She stepped over his body and made her way to the remains of the back of the mansion.

"That was the most fucking amazing thing I've ever seen in my bloody life!" Devon said. "Holy shite!"

Cristian opened one of his Pokeballs, releasing Zoroark from her slumber. The Pokemon looked around and smiled at the destruction. She turned to her master.

"Get rid of as many as you can." Zoroark nodded and ran to engage the Yakuza streaming in from the front yard and the remains of the mansion.

"Sir!" Jirou, Miyagi's most trusted lieutenant, pulled the chairman from his bed. The man was visibly shocked. He wore a red robe and needed help getting into his slippers. Jirou took his cane from beside the wall and handed it to him. The sound of the mansion falling apart was deafening, as was the sound of the alarm.

"Is the helicopter being prepared?"

"Yes sir!" Jirou looked out of Miyagi's bedroom and motioned for his chairman to follow.

"You have approval to use the tank." Miyagi said. "Whoever has destroyed my mansion will die like dogs! Also, call the pilot. Tell him to prepare the guns!"

"Yes sir!"

Lucario leapt over a pile of rubble and landed in a huge bathroom. Tons of granite, pillars holding up the ceiling, gold everywhere. A bathtub fit for a king, a spa, two showers, and a toilet with a television in front of it. Lucario padded through, entering a hallway where three men were coming his way, weapons in their hands. Lucario brought up his aura shield and ran at them as bullets panged off. They screamed as he blew the shield up in their faces, sending them flying down the hallway, missing limbs stopping just short of the bodies.

Lucario leapt the bodies and entered a living room, sliding on the tile floor behind a sofa as machine gun fire tore into the wall behind him. The sofa was quickly becoming terrible cover as it blew apart, stuffing falling on Lucario. He was about to bring up a shield when Cristian entered the room, his weapon letting off a shotgun blast of aura that blew the shooter to pieces. He grabbed Lucario's arm and hefted him up.

Lily ran in and Cristian gave her a thumbs up.

Lucario started toward the front of the mansion from the right. Cristian and Lily went from the left. The rest of the resistance began streaming into the mansion, sweeping it for enemies.

Miyagi hobbled out of his mansion and toward the helipad on the left side of his front yard. Jirou held his cell phone to his ear, listening to reports from his men on an open channel. They were being pummeled. And there weren't even very many people attacking supposedly. He cursed into his phone as he helped Miyagi to the helipad.

Then the Lucario appeared.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and Lucario hopped from foot to foot as the men gelled together, their weapons trained on the Pokemon.

The close proximity of the men was exactly what Cristian had been hoping for.

Devon stood in a library on the top floor. A giant picture window sat behind an antique desk. He had shot the window and now crouched on the remnants of it, his weapon aimed at the group of men about to take out Lucario. Sitting at the end of the barrel of his weapon was a giant aura sphere.

A rocket.

He let it off.

"Hell yeah!" He pumped his fist as all twelve men in the group exploded into bits and pieces.

"Bellossom!" Bellossom piped up excitedly.

"I love you too honey!"

Lucario ran toward Miyagi and Jirou. Cristian and Lily ran into the front yard to engage the surviving Yakuza.

Miyagi's helicopter was starting. Cristian's plan was to take it out with the combined blasts of three of the aura guns.

That plan was completely shot to shit the moment the tank left one of the three hangars on the opposite side of the yard from the helipad.

"Aw buggeration and fuckery!" Devon exclaimed as he saw a line of headlights on the street leading to Miyagi's front gate.

Things were getting a little out of hand.

Miyagi got into the chopper right as Lucario reached the helipad. The blades started whirling. Jirou turned to face Lucario as the chopper began its ascent to the sky. A thick cloud of dust flew against Lucario, causing him to raise his arm to cover his eyes.

That's when Jirou's Lucario attacked.

"Oh bugger!" The helicopter turned to face Devon and it's chain guns focused on him.

An explosion rocked the mansion as the tank shot at Cristian and Lily.

"Oh double bugger!"

And then he saw Lucario and…Lucario fighting on the helipad.

"Bellossom, love. I think we're fucked!" He grabbed his little green companion and ran for it as the chain guns tore into the library, taking apart books and shelves and sending chips of the wood floor flying into the air.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" Devon felt one of the bullets scrape his side and he slumped over a metal railing. Below him was a giant entrance hall.

"Oh fuck." He said and fell over the railing to the hard tile floor below. Bellossom landed on top of him lightly and lifted her arms in a ta-da pose.

Cristian grabbed Lily and threw himself to the side with her as the tank's shell smashed against the pavement beside them and exploded gloriously. He was nearly deafened and felt chunks of asphalt rocket into his body. Cristian landed in a heap with Lily. Somewhere during their escape from certain death, Lily had pressed her lips against Cristian's. He felt warm blood against his face and other gooey substances.

He saw that Lily's left eye had been sliced open by a sharp piece of asphalt. That was the blood and other juices dripping onto his face.

He followed Lily's example, and passed out.

Lucario felt the other Lucario's fist against his snout and saw stars. He staggered backward and started to breath heavily. He'd seen Cristian and Lily nearly get blown to pieces, saw the chopper more than likely take down Devon.

They were fucked.

Lucario then heard the crash of the front gates being ripped from their hinges.

"Dammit." He muttered, ducking under a left hook from his opponent and lashing out with his foot, somehow hitting the evil Lucario's side. It was weak though and the Lucario didn't seem to feel any pain. It called an aura sphere to its paw and shoved it toward Lucario's face.

There was the ring of a shot and the enemy Lucario dropped, half its head missing.

The Chief of Police pulled himself back into his police car, giving Lucario a thumbs up. Behind him was the whole police precinct, men streaming out of the cars to arrest any survivors. Lucario swayed back and forth and wanted to pass out. He was tired, the enemy Lucario had been strong. Well, Lucario would have been stronger if he hadn't been fighting vigorously for fifteen minutes straight before this climactic battle.

Lucario saw Jirou pulling a pistol from his jacket and dragged himself toward the man.

"Wake up Lucario!" Yelled a familiar voice.

"Tsubaki?" Lucario slowly turned around. He heard the click of the hammer being cocked and saw Tsubaki and a form in her hands.

He suddenly could see straight. He felt adrenaline pumping through his system.

The bullet left the pistol, but missed Lucario by a foot.

He appeared beside Jirou. The Yakuza lieutenant turned, bringing his foot up in a roundhouse kick. Lucario ducked under it and an aura sphere developed in his paw.

It was the biggest aura sphere he had ever produced, let alone had ever been produced by a Pokemon.

When he let it loose it enveloped Jirou and left nothing behind. It continued past the helipad and straight into the tank.

The tank exploded brilliantly. Devon would have been proud.

Zoroark led two resistance members out of the mansion and Blaziken had Devon thrown in a fireman's carry over one shoulder, Bellossom in his arms.

"Oh man." Lucario yawned, the adrenaline wearing off. He then fell over and passed out.

Devon awoke in a hospital bed, his stomach wrapped in bandages as well as his head. He hated hospitals. The only bright spot in the otherwise drab setting was his Bellossom sitting on his lap, staring at him. He reached for her and squeezed her gently. She squeaked. He then rubbed his cheek against her. "Oh my Bellossom. My sweet, sweet Bellossom…"

Cristian and Lily lay in the room next to Devon's, their hands laced together. Lily's eye had been cut open and it had to be removed. Cristian himself was just beaten, battered, and bruised. His Zoroark sat beside him, watching him with a look of pain. She should have been there to protect him. Instead, she had let her master and Lily get hurt.

"It's okay Zoroark." Cristian had said. "Don't blame yourself. It's my fault."

The doctor came in to take Lily to the surgical ward. Before she was wheeled off, she squeezed Cristian's hand.

Lucario awoke to see Sean standing over him, pressing a wet cloth on his forehead. Sean smiled at Lucario as he looked around. Tsubaki sat at his feet on the sofa, watching him. His whole body was immobile. He'd expended too much energy the night before. He was lucky he wasn't dead.

"Luc…don't die. I just got back. Please be okay!"

Lucario looked beside Sean and saw a face he hadn't seen in eight months. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Lopunny." Lucario said and his paw tried to reach out to her. She grabbed it and pressed it against her cheek.

"I'm sorry I can't hug you…" Lucario said, tears in his own eyes.

"I still can." Lopunny wrapped her hands around Lucario's chest and pressed her mouth against his. "I missed you so much. I was stuck in a coma for so long. I just wanted to come back to you."

Lucario tried to lift his arms to hug Lopunny back. Amy suddenly appeared and helped him put his arms around his lover.

"Aww, you guys are cuter than I ever thought!" She wiggled about as she pulled her phone from her pocket and took a picture.

"Oh, come on Amy. Do you need a picture? That seems like a little too much." Amy pouted at Sean and he hugged her sweetly. "Take pictures of us, not those two. Are we not cute enough?"

Lucario and Lopunny stayed in an embrace for a long time. She stayed by his side the whole day and they talked about everything that had happened over the past eight months. Lopunny talked about her dreams of going to the beach with him and he talked about how he was made to fight the Yakuza.

When night fell, Lopunny rolled onto the sofa and under the covers next to Lucario.

They were finally back together again. And they were both happier than they had ever been.

Miyagi was madder than he had ever been.

"Goddammit! Those bastards!" He threw all the paperwork off of his desk and felt like flipping it over as well. "They destroyed my mansion! They killed my men! They destroyed my tank! They killed my lieutenant! DAMMIT!" He kicked the desk with his good leg.

"Sir, will we retaliate?" Lieutenant Kazumi asked.

"Of course we'll fucking retaliate! Send the chopper to the Cherry Grove Police Precinct! That's our first course of action!"

"Yes sir."

Nichelle had watched the whole mansion incident from the branch of a nearby tree. It had been a hell of a show.

She'd gotten to see the Lucario's true power.

She had a lot of preparing to do before she could take him on.


	5. Act Five: The Graveyard

Act Five: The Graveyard

The chief of police opened an orange tube filled with blue pills and tilted three into his palm, then downed them with his scathing hot coffee, hoping they'd kill his awful migraine. He put the pills back in his desk drawer and picked a pen off his ear. He had a pound of paperwork to get through, even a day and a half after the battle at Miyagi's mansion. The coroner was in heaven. He'd already expressed his approval at the variety of dead bodies and all the various mutilations he got to enjoy the sight of. He was having more fun than the chief. Jenny number forty-five came back every hour with an update on the conditions of the resistance members. Cristian, Lily, Devon, Lucario, and two others had survived. Four had died. Lily was in surgery and Lucario was very weak, he could barely move. Sean, the new Pokemon doctor in town, said Lucario was lucky to be alive. The only reason he was holding out was the fact his girlfriend had returned to him and he didn't want to give up on life. It was cute, but the chief didn't care about the warm and fuzziness, he cared that Lucario wasn't dead. Okay, maybe he did care about his friend's happiness. He had called his wife to tell her he would be late because he wanted to check on Lucario after work.

As he was putting his things away and packing up for the day he heard a knock on his door. He looked up to see Cristian standing there, covered in bandages. The chief motioned for him to come inside and sit down.

"How's Lily?" He asked, continuing his daily pack-up ritual.

"Well. Beside her missing eye she's doing great. She's taking that well though. The prospect of wearing an eye patch makes her very happy. She can act like a pirate." Cristian chuckled. "She's a piece of work."

"That's for sure." The chief grabbed his coffee cup and crumpled it, throwing it into a waste basket. "You have good taste in women. If my wife gets a scratch she bitches about getting an infection. Lily gets her eye sliced in half and wants to be a pirate." He sighed. "Marriage. It's like prison, except instead of not having sex every night during marriage, in prison Big Sugah Jerome will give if you can take, any day, three-sixty-five."

"That's disgusting and sounds like heaven for a certain foreign guy I know." Cristian rubbed his forehead. "That went badly the other night. I can't believe I let you get involved."

"I got myself involved." The chief said. "I knew the consequences. I just couldn't let you die. It would have hurt my feelings if you had died." He smiled sarcastically.

"Are you ready for the political shitstorm? Miyagi's gonna be after your head."

"If he pulled me out of office I guess I'd have to join your resistance. And the rest of the force would follow. There's no way any of the Jenny's or other guys would work under a Yakuza appointed chief."

"Thank you sir."

"I'm going to see Lucario. You want to come along or are you going to see Lily?"

"I'll go if you can drop me off at the hospital afterward."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll get some flowers for her at the hospital store." The chief started to the door and Cristian followed close behind.

The television was on and Lucario lay with Lopunny, watching it quietly. Lopunny rarely moved from her spot with him and enjoyed snuggling against him and sharing her warmth. He could barely move but Amy or Tsubaki would help him to get around or put his arms around Lopunny. Amy continually took pictures and wiggled while Sean checked him constantly.

"He shouldn't be alive." Sean had told Tsubaki privately. "He's so weak he can't move and his heart rate is way off. It's not consistent like it should be. He may be under a severe form of paralysis. Paralysis is of course caused by an airborne agent given off by various Pokemon. There are only two poison-based attacks Lucario's can use. Poison jab and toxic. Both are short term and only cause severe dizziness."

"What if he used too much of his aura?" Tsubaki asked. "Aura is life force after all. So maybe he used up all but his last reserves of life force. I've told you about the sheer amount of power he created to kill that Yakuza guy and blow up the tank."

"To tell the truth, that could be. I've never dealt with Pokemon that use aura as a regular means of attack. So it could be that he has used up his life force."

"If so, do you think it will come back?"

Sean shook his head. "I don't know."

Tsubaki feared for Lucario. Every time Sean checked him she felt a pang in her heart. She felt like there was absolutely nothing she could do. She hated that hopeless feeling but there was no way to help it. Lucario was holding on, but from the way Sean spoke, he wouldn't be able to for long.

She couldn't accept that though. Lucario would not die. He wouldn't accept death.

"Keep drinking water. Get a lot of sleep. Just rest easy."

"Will I be okay?" Lucario asked.

"Do you want the truth?" Lucario nodded. "I don't know. All I can tell you is to rest. I'm going to chat with Gary Oak. He knows a lot more about Pokemon than I ever could. Tomorrow morning I'll hope to have a way to cure you." Sean moved toward Amy who had been watching everything from an armchair next to the television. He helped her up and she said goodbye to Lucario, Lopunny, and then Tsubaki.

As they walked out, the chief of police and Cristian came in.

"Guys." The chief nodded his head. "Just came by to see how Lucario is doing."

"Aside from the fact I am apparently dying with no cure in sight?" Lucario laughed. "I'm actually doing well."

The chief took a seat in the armchair recently vacated by Amy. Cristian stood by his side.

"You did a hell of a job." Cristian said. "Your obligation to me and the resistance is over. The contract said we get you until Miyagi is dead, but I can tell you have more important things in your life. Happier things. I understand completely, I've got a person in my life I wish I could stay with. But I've got to finish what I started."

"I'll finish out with you." Lucario said. "If I can just move around."

Cristian shook his head. "You're done with the resistance. I'm not putting your life at risk. You're the reason we got out of the mansion alive and I'm thankful, but I don't want you to be put into any more danger. So stay here and be happy."

"I have a personal reason to want Miyagi dead. I'll leave the resistance, but only after I get to kill him."

The chief grabbed Cristian's arm before he could argue any further. "Let him."

"I'm not going to let him risk himself anymore!" Cristian told his boss. "He has a reason to live! It's readily apparent that taking down Miyagi is a suicide mission, but if I'm going to blow myself to hell, I'm taking Miyagi with me!"

"Well maybe next time you decide to go and attempt to kill Miyagi you'd be better off doing it with a plan."

"We had a plan!" Cristian yelled.

"What, to go in guns blazing like a fucking action movie hero? See how far that got you?"

Cristian sighed. "I'm not letting the Lucario follow us. That's final."

"Well I'm telling him to go on my behalf." The chief said. "He's going as a cop. When he gets better, let him go with you. He's got a personal stake in all of this."

"He better be ready when we attack then." Cristian shot the two on the sofa a somber look. Lucario had too much going on. Cristian already had to deal with grieving families and wives. He didn't want to deal with Tsubaki and Lopunny over Lucario biting the bullet.

"Let's go." Cristian left through the front door, not wanting to push the argument any further.

The chief sighed and stood mechanically. He walked over to Lucario and put his hand over Lucario's. He then put his hand on Lopunny's head. "You guys will get through it. And don't mind Cristian. He'd be a fool not to let you tag along on his next attack. Good night." He left.

Lopunny nudged Lucario playfully. "You have really nice friends. I don't really want you to go fight, but if you have to, I'll support you."

"I hate fighting." Lucario muttered. "I'd rather stay here with you. But I have an obligation to an old friend to take down Miyagi."

"You think you'll be able to move?"

"I will. Just rest here with me for a while longer and I'll be fine!" The two snuggled close and fell asleep.

Amy flipped through the pictures on her phone, wiggling like a Weedle. Sean plopped in his desk chair and sighed. He took a sip of his orange juice and started to set up his webcam. He hoped Gary Oak had some answers. Amy was becoming very connected to Lucario and Lopunny. He didn't want her to have to go through Lucario dying. He would do whatever he could to prevent the Pokemon's death.

N bowed to the lavishly dressed elders. His face was bruised badly after the Lucario Sean Ratchet had been so fond of beat him up. He was mad, but at the same time happy. He had an excuse to bring Zekrom back.

The elders smiled at the beaten N. He had found Sean Ratchet and failed to kill him because of his pesky Lucario. It had touched the Godstone; it was on a completely different playing field from any other Pokemon. It could compete against Reshiram and Zekrom if only it accessed its true power. The Godstone was the most mythical of items in the world. How Lucario and Sean had found it the elders had no clue. It was something they had been searching for since the institution of Team Plasma and that tyrant Sean Ratchet had found in the course of six months.

"Please allow me to use Deoxys!" N bowed deeply. "I want to destroy Sean Ratchet! I want to rip his guts out of his stomach and destroy that stupid fucking Lucario!"

The elders chuckled. "Reshiram will be reawakened if we give you Deoxys. We'll have Zekrom, but if Reshiram finds Sean Ratchet you know that our fight will be made much tougher. Our establishment of a new world order can only be attained with all of the gods either gone or on our side. Are you truly prepared to begin on the path to war? There is no way back."

"Team Plasma will prevail. I swear to you elder."

"Deoxys is yours, but if you fail know that you will be executed. We cannot afford any more failure. You saw what happened when Sean Ratchet left us. This is a sink or swim situation. We are placing the Team's fate on your shoulders."

"Thank you. I won't fail you!"

The telepathy used by Lucario's was strange indeed. Scientists had no idea how it worked and could do as many tests as they wanted to but would never learn the intricacies of a Lucario's telepathic abilities. A Lucario has the ability to speak to others through his or her mind, and in sending his or her message it is received by the receiver in their native language. Take a look at any Lucario and you may believe they speak English and it is then translated to another language depending on the receiver. English being the most widespread language used in the Pokemon world, it is easy to think that. In fact, Lucario's speak just like any other Pokemon. They have their own language. This language is made up of saying "Lucario" in various tones and ways, just like any other Pokemon saying their name. One of the biggest mysteries of the Lucario, though, is how it is able to provide lucid dreams not only for itself, but for others in the general vicinity. An example is what was happening between Lucario and Lopunny. The duo were in the same lucid dream. Lucario could bend this dream at will. It was how he was able to create a beach scene for the two to enjoy.

They sat in the sand, the sun's rays beating against them. The surf lapped gently at their feet. Lucario had put his arm around Lopunny, this time without the help of Tsubaki or Amy. They stayed in silence for a while, enjoying the time together, even if it were just mentally. Lucario eventually fell against the sand and put his hands behind his head, crossing his legs and staring at the sun.

"Will there always be fighting?" Lopunny asked, looking down at him. "I didn't realize that your old life was so crazy. I didn't know so many people wanted to kill you."

"My life has been nothing but fighting. When I left it, I met you." Lucario flicked his foot back and forth. "The forest and my meeting you gave me the most solace I've ever experienced."

"I knew that you had enemies. I knew you had fought for a long time. But I never knew there were so many people who hated you." She drew a pattern in the sand with her paw. "I wish they'd leave you alone."

"I'm sorry to get you involved. I should have kept everyone out of it. Now I've endangered you, I've endangered Tsubaki again."

Lopunny fell on top of Lucario and kissed him. "I love you. And I know that whatever trouble you get into, you'll come out. And if I get involved, I know you'll save me."

Lucario nodded. "I swear to end all of this. When I get able to move, I'm going to end all of the problems. I'm going to make the world safe for us so we can have children and we can be happy."

Lopunny poked Lucario's chest playfully. "I'll hold you to that."

"And if I end up screwing up somehow?"

"You won't. But if you do I guess I'll have to beat you up!" Lopunny laughed.

Sean rolled his neck, working out all of the kinks he had attained over the past five hours of typing and staring into a video camera. His legs were stiff, his fingers felt like they were arthritic. He could barely type. His hazel eyes were bloodshot. He was tired, the only thing keeping him awake a continual intake of terribly bitter coffee. The soft snores of Amy in his leather sofa and the hum of his computer were the only sounds as he opened emailed documents from Gary containing studies and medical papers. Gary had dealt with a problem like this before, thankfully. He had a medical solution that would speed up the process of healing. All Sean needed to do was collect the ingredients, mix it all together, and hope he hadn't screwed up.

"You there Sean?" Gary Oak's voice cut into Sean's reading of a boring medical document that seemed to go on for eternity. He minimized the PDF file and Gary Oak's face replaced it, his brown hair spiked up, his chin clean shaven. He'd done well for himself after the death of his grandfather. He was now the dominant voice in the field of Pokemon medical science, as well as one of Johto Magazine's sexiest men alive. Sean had started talking to him during his time in Onyx City as a doctor at the Pokemon center. Gary had been going around the world and learning more about Pokemon, Onyx City had been one of his stops. Sean and Gary started hanging out and became good friends. They had worked together once on a cure for poison that worked instantly and were always there for each other when they had questions.

"I'm here bro." Sean rubbed at his eyes. "What's up?"

"I faxed every item you need for the cure. It could take anywhere between a day and a half and a week before the cure works, and even that's just a guess. I've only used it once and it seemed to work. It took about a month to come up with and is a mixture of a paralysis cure, a rejuvenation mixture, and a mind relaxing solvent. The hypothesis is that aura is life force and life force can return to you, though it takes a very long time. Take for instance someone who has been beaten to the brink of death. They won't be getting up for a while, not only because of the physical beatings, but also the exuding of life forces. Humans cannot control their life force and it gets thrown around willy-nilly by our bodies. The beaten man can't move and can't think too well until that life force comes back. The body can take a lot of physical harm, but if all the aura escapes it, you're dead."

"This stuff is getting religious sounding."

"Science is a religion Sean. Anyway, you can get back life force but it takes a long, long time. It doesn't just come back to you, your mind actually produces it. If the mind is relaxed it produces it much faster. That's why some people believe we sleep, in order to regain lost aura by being in a relaxed state."

"So aura is the soul and the soul can be regained through rest?"

"Exactly. The problem Lucario is facing at this point in time is restlessness. He may sleep, but it's not very restful. Anxiety overtakes him and he has nightmares. He won't admit it I'm sure because if it weren't for these nightmares he would be able to move by now. It's been three days. And if I understand the situation, then Lucario is constantly with Lopunny. This gives me the feeling he has nightmares concerning her. I'm sure he has good dreams as well, but the nightmares are so vivid that it's making his mind into an anxious wreck. I'm hoping that this cure works and calms him. I wish I could drive over there but I'm busy."

"It's okay." Sean said, pulling the faxed ingredient list from his printer. "I'll get to work on this and hopefully he'll be fine soon."

"Good luck. And get some sleep. You look like the walking dead." Gary cut off his video feed and left Sean to his work. He looked at Amy sleeping quietly on the sofa and wished it were big enough to fit both of them. Feeling it would be rude to just leave her in the living room alone, he pulled the blanket off of his bed and curled up on the floor next to the sofa.

"How did I know you'd come to me?" Daylan asked, clasping his hands behind his back. He got into step with the man in the white mask, a strikingly tall man whose strides were huge. He wore a white suit and white snake skin shoes. Daylan hated this man, but couldn't help putting on a fake smile for him. He was a client. He had money. Thus all prior relationships were void. Though Daylan couldn't help but be annoyed by his mask. Everyone knew his true identity, why hide it? More people knew his mask then his face.

"Your men killed my men. Who the do you think you are to do that?" Ash asked.

"You were intruding upon my interests. I had no other choice." Daylan stopped at a vat containing a greenish liquid. A skeleton floated inside of it. He manipulated the computer console beside it and an outline of a Lucario popped up. Ash smiled and read all of the numbers running beside the outline.

"Maybe the death of my men was for the better." Ash nodded. "Give me a price."

It had been three days since Sean had given Lucario the medicine that would hasten the return of his aura. Lucario was able to walk around a bit and could move his arms as well. He was able to get to Tsubaki's every morning for breakfast and could get around the house himself. Sean stopped by every day to check his progress and found that he was doing amazing. In another day or two, he would be back to his usual self. Gary Oak had really pulled through. Sean smiled to himself as he watched Lucario move around. He had a sense of accomplishment he had never felt before. This had been the toughest medical problem he had faced and he'd been able to fix it. It wasn't all because of him, but he felt good nonetheless.

He counted himself lucky that the bad guys had decided to show up the next day when Lucario had fully healed.

The chief sat at his desk, tapping a pencil against the edge. His had nothing to do. The past couple days had been quiet. Cherry Grove had never been a huge crime hub and the Yakuza had made sure that everything was under control. Now, everyone was in awe at what had happened at Miyagi's mansion and nobody gave a damn about murder or any of those kinds of things. Not only did this mean that Miyagi was being paid to sit on his ass, it also meant he was sitting on his ass in his office for hours with nothing to do. He'd gotten a call from Sean a couple hours back that Lucario was moving around with no problem and he had decided he'd drop by Tsubaki's after work to see him.

As he unrolled the brown sack containing his lunch for the day, he heard the sound of a helicopter flying in the vicinity. He blew it off as he bit into his sub sandwich.

"Sir?" Jenny fifty-three entered, her tone worried. The chief put down his sandwich and lifted an eyebrow. "There's a helicopter flying low and it is coming toward the building."

The pieces started connecting in his mind.

"Tell everyone to get down!" He screamed as a loud whining sound got closer and closer.

The missile smashed through the glass front doors of the police precinct. The nose of the missile mashed against the checkered black and white tiles on the floor.

It detonated gloriously. The whole front of the building was turned to nothing but dust. The man at the front desk was totally obliterated, nothing left of him.

The chopper pilot thumbed the cover off of his control yoke and depressed the red button the cover had been protecting. The chain guns on both sides of the chopper started turning, warming up. When they were ready they peppered the police precinct and rained hell upon the men and women who attempted to kill Chairman Miyagi.

The chief had nowhere to hide. He saw Jenny fifty-three's top half fall from her bottom, three perfectly placed bullets chewing through her stomach enough to let gravity pull her apart. The bullets smashed through the roof and tore the tiles apart. The chief attempted to hide under his desk but that idea was quickly shot to shit, literally. He felt chips of wood against his cheeks and then felt a wetness on his shoulder that made him spin around. He screamed and fell to the ground, his left arm immobile. As bullets blasted into the walls and floor around him he managed to get his cell phone out of his pocket and dial the number for Tsubaki's house.

"Hello?" She answered.

"The precincts done for. The choppers gonna come your way. Save yourselves! Get the fuck out of there! Run away!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just get o—" His voice became a wheeze as a bullet pierced through his neck and he began to choke on blood.

"Chief? Are you okay?" Tsubaki was yelling from her restaurant. "Chief?"

Nichelle sat in the back of a limousine with three other people in body armor and carrying machine guns. There were two other cars of men flanking the limo. These were members of a private military organization Nichelle had been associated with. She would pay them after the Lucario was dead. She had tapped the phone lines of Chairman Miyagi to learn of his helicopter attack on Tsubaki and the Lucario. It was the perfect time to take advantage of the situation.

They would take Lopunny from him. They would confront him in the graveyard. They would kill him.

Nichelle could not get the taste of revenge out of her mouth. She salivated at the thought of Lucario's blood on her hands.

"You motherfuckers." Devon held his aura gun tightly in his hands as he watched the chopper turn away from the flaming remnants of the police precinct. He got inside of his car and started it up. He followed the helicopter toward the center of town.

"What's going on?" Lucario asked, holding Lopunny tightly against him as Tsubaki shook, staring out the window.

"I think the chief was killed."

"What?" Lucario went to the front door, leaving Lopunny in the center of the living room, and looked outside. He heard the whirr of helicopter rotors and cursed. He turned to Tsubaki. "Get out of here! Take Lopunny and go!"

The back of the house shook and men in body armor streamed in, shooting at Lucario and Tsubaki.

His aura shield surrounded himself and Tsubaki but missed Lopunny. One of the body armored men grabbed Lopunny around the neck. She thrashed about, screaming. Lucario's feet padded after the captors but was stopped dead by one of the men pushing a pistol against Lopunny's head.

"Don't move or I'll kill her!" He cried. "We're not fighting here." He turned and took Lopunny through the hole in the back of the house.

"Dammit!" Lucario screamed as Tsubaki screamed.

The helicopter had arrived.

Devon's car screeched to a halt. He got out and pointed his aura gun at the chopper as it let off its second missile.

The aura sphere and the missile collided in midair. The blast buffeted the chopper and nearly sent it spinning out of control. The pilot somehow got it to level out, but not before the tail rotor smashed against the roof of the building opposite Tsubaki's. It sustained a bit of damage, enough that the pilot felt they needed to get out of the air as soon as possible.

"SHIT, WATCH OUT!" The copilot screamed as a rocket of aura smashed against the side of the chopper.

Red lights started blinking on the console and throughout the chopper. The pilot cursed as the chopper lilted to the left, straight into a building.

Devon smiled as the chopper crumpled into a coffee shop building across the street.

"Tea is better." He muttered, turning to face Lucario and Tsubaki getting in his car.

"What in the buggery is this?" He asked, getting in the driver's side as a limo and two jeeps pulled out of the alley beside Tsubaki's.

"Go after them!" Lucario said.

"I'm not a fucking taxi mate!"

"What kind of car is this? Why is the driver's side on the right?" Tsubaki asked.

"Oh you bloody wankers!" Devon stepped on the gas and followed Lopunny's captors. "Know I'm only doing this because I like a spot of violence here and there and the hospital did not provide my recommended intake of the stuff." Devon cut the wheel left and started down an alley, the left side of the car scraping against the brick wall and taking off the rearview mirror. "Oh crap!" He turned onto a street running parallel to Cherry Grove's main street, He pressed the gas pedal against the floor and sped forward at one hundred and ten miles an hour, trying to beat the kidnappers to the road out of town.

Main Street and the street Devon was on converged two hundred feet ahead. Devon looked over at the kidnappers cars straight across from him. He sped up, pushing a hundred and forty. He grabbed Tsubaki and started to pull her toward him.

"What are you doing?" She tried to wriggle free.

"I'm not into you doll." He put her hands on the wheel beside his. They were now on the road out of town. The kidnappers came fast toward them. Devon took off his seatbelt and pressed his finger against the trigger of his aura gun.

"I'm about to do something bloody stupid." He said. "I'd suggest you follow whoever survives."

"What?" Tsubaki managed to get out before screaming as Devon slammed on the break and turned the wheel left, opening his door. The car skidded around one hundred and eighty degrees, facing the kidnappers. Devon stepped out as the car continued its complete three-sixty, the rear bumper brushing his legs. He pointed his aura gun at the front jeep, charging it up.

The jeep turned ninety degrees, the front facing the left side of the road, the left side of the jeep facing Devon. They were going to swat him aside.

Just what he had been hoping for.

The charge of his aura gun was the perfect size. He let it loose. The jeep was only thirty feet away when the aura sphere blasted into the ground beneath it, sending it flying. It spun in the air, heading straight for Devon. The driver's side door was right over his head as he stood there on the road. He reached up, grabbing the door handle and then grabbing the driver in midair, throwing him to the ground as the jeep flew into the street with a crunch behind Devon. The driver's eyes were wide with disbelief at the godly feat he had just witnessed.

"What are you?" The man asked.

"Foreign."

Devon looked over his shoulder as the other jeep attempted to run him over. He threw the driver of the first jeep in front of himself and rolled to the side. The driver of the first car's body snapped in half upon impact and he was then thrown into the air like a ragdoll. The limo followed the jeep down the road.

Devon turned toward the wreckage of the first jeep and checked for any live people.

The man in the passenger seat was impaled through the chest by a piece of glass. The two in the back seat had smacked their heads against the seats in front of them, jarring their brains enough to kill them.

Devon sat down and sighed. He set his gun beside him and called Bellossom from her Pokeball.

"It's just you and me again, love." He squeezed her playfully and rubbed his cheek against her.

Tsubaki hid in the forest. As the jeep and limo passed, she got behind and followed them closely. They were leading the two somewhere, but she wasn't exactly sure where. The cars ahead took a detour off the main road and onto a gravel, winding road through the forest.

"The graveyard." Lucario muttered.

"Oh crap." Tsubaki exclaimed.

"Drop the car here. Let's go on foot in case they are expecting us to drive in. Could be an ambush."

She nodded and pulled off the road.

The two cars stopped in the center of the graveyard and everyone got out. The leader of the group pulled Lopunny from the car, her arms bound, her mouth gagged. Nichelle followed the leader and smiled at him. "You're about to get your money."

Tsubaki hid behind the wall surrounding the perimeter of the graveyard, her hand on Zangoose's Pokeball.

"How much is she paying you to die?" Lucario asked.

Everyone turned, searching for the source of the voice.

"Come out in the open or Lopunny dies!" The leader held Lopunny tight around the neck, his pistol pushed against her face. "This isn't a goddamn game!"

"No it's not. You took Lopunny. You've pissed me off. I'm going to kill you all."

"You're an idiot!" Nichelle pointed her machine gun at Lopunny's stomach. Before she could touch the trigger she felt something impact her side. She fell to the ground and stared up at Lucario. He kicked her weapon aside and turned to face the seven others. They started shooting. He brought up his aura shield.

The leader was moving away, which was exactly what Lucario wanted.

His shield, a bubble around him, now became a ball in his hands. The ball grew and grew.

"THIS IS WHAT HE DID AT MIYAGI'S!" Nichelle screamed. "Run!"

She had a knife in her right hand and ran at Lucario as he let loose a ball of aura so large it cut a swathe in the ground it passed above. It passed through the jeep, blowing it to pieces, continued through five of the men, then blew the limo apart.

He turned and ducked under Nichelle's knife. He looked at Lopunny and the leader and noticed he had thrown her to the ground, his foot on her back, his pistol about to blow her brains out.

Zangoose hopped on a gravestone covered in ivy and watched Lucario's attack. He'd never seen anything like it.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed before he saw the leader of the group the assassin was working with send Lopunny to the ground and aim his pistol at her. Zangoose leapt to the ground and ran at him. Zangoose's claws cut through the man's legs, sending him toppling to the ground, his pistol shooting into the air.

Zangoose leapt onto his torso and tore into his neck, severing his head from the rest of his body. The eyes of the head blinked a couple times, the mouth moving up and down grotesquely. Zangoose looked away and ran to Lopunny, cutting the restraints from her arms and legs and the gag around her mouth.

"Luc!" She stood and started to run for him.

Zangoose touched her shoulder. "You can't do anything for him right now. Just follow me."

"He did that attack! He'll kill himself!" Lopunny was on the verge of tears.

"It's okay! He'll be fine!" Zangoose grabbed her and took her toward Tsubaki.

Two of the men had survived the aura attack. They wanted a shot at the Lucario but Nichelle was getting in the way.

They never saw Zangoose kill their boss. Nor did they see him a couple minutes later when he hopped, shoving his left claw through one of the men's back and reaching over to cut the other man's carotid artery.

Lucario danced around Nichelle's knife, the blade occasionally scoring a hit.

"Hey bitch!" A voice yelled from the wall.

She turned.

"You're the asshole from Miyagi's." She said.

"And you're the bitch from the exchange." Lily said, a black patch over her right eye. Cristian followed beside her. "Get away from the Lucario."

"You gonna fight me?" She smiled. "The more the merrier."

"You say that now." Lily nodded at Lucario. He opened his arms and took a couple steps back.

Cristian sat on a grave and pulled a carton of cigarettes from his jacket, lighting one up and shoving it in his mouth.

Lily looked at Nichelle's knife then looked at her own bare hands. Nichelle got the message and threw her knife away before moving on Lily.

Lily side stepped Nichelle's initial punch, then brought her foot into the assassins stomach. Nichelle backed off, clutching her stomach before dodging a flurry of punches from Lily. She lifted her knee toward Lily's stomach but missed, Lily now at her left side. Lily's attempt at a roundhouse kick was foiled when Nichelle ducked beneath her raised leg and brought her shoulder between Lily's legs, into her groin, throwing her to the ground. Lily cried out and Cristian started to get up but smiled when Lily pulled her eye patch off and rolled away from Nichelle. Inside of her eye socket was a glass ball. She pulled it out and opened it. Inside, she took out a length of piano wire.

Nichelle never saw it. Lily got up, leaving the glass ball on the ground and hiding the piano wire in her closed fist.

Nichelle's right hand was behind her back.

Lily held the piano wire tightly in her hands, strung taught between them, as Nichelle brought her hand with her knife down, past Lilly's face and toward her stomach.

Nichelle's right hand was cut clean off. She screamed and fell over in pain as blood streamed out of the stump where her hand had been.

Lily was on her, the piano wire pressed against Nichelle's face.

"Sleep tight." Lily said before cutting into Nichelle's carotid artery. Nichelle couldn't scream, she instead choked on blood. She was alive for about a half a minute before she bled out.

Lily grabbed the glass ball from the ground and put the piano wire inside, then shoved it in her eye socket before replacing the eye patch.

Cristian stood. Lily was covered in Nichelle's blood, literally painted in it. She hugged Cristian and got it all over him. They kissed before Cristian turned to Lucario. "I saw this bitch in Cherry Grove and followed her around. I'm not doing this because you're a comrade in arms. I'm doing it for myself. I'm heading to the chief. I'll tell him what happened."

"He's dead." Lucario said. "Didn't you see Miyagi's chopper?"

"I saw it." Cristian said. "It…"

"It took out the police precinct before it went after us."

"Shit!" Cristian and Lily started toward the woods.

Lucario sat down and nearly passed out. Tsubaki ran toward him with Lopunny and Zangoose in tow. He embraced Lopunny. Tsubaki pulled a plastic bottle from her pants pocket and unscrewed the cap, pouring some into Lucario's mouth. The stuff Sean had given him a few days before. It got his aura back faster. Now that they had the recipe he could do insane and stupid things with his aura without being put in an immobile position like he had been.

Nonetheless, he needed some time to rest. He found a grave and sat against it.

"You know the last time we were here was the last time I saw you?" Tsubaki asked. "This place has a lot of bad memories."

Lucario sat back against the grave and rubbed the ground. "I never really got to tell her to rest in peace before I ran. So I guess I should now." He looked at the ground beneath him. "Rest in peace Jenny. Sorry I couldn't bring flowers. As you could probably see, I didn't come here knowing I'd meet with you again. I miss you, but I found someone to make me happy. I'm going to get Miyagi. I'm going to kill him. I'll make sure you're death wasn't for nothing."

Lopunny helped Lucario stand and they started toward Devon's car.

"Shits going from bad to worse. Maybe it would have been better if you stayed in the forest." Zangoose said.

"And maybe it would've been better if you'd been born without a mouth." Lucario replied.

"Touché."

N and Deoxys stood on the edge of the volcano. Floating before them was Zekrom, risen from the ashes by Deoxys.

And beside Zekrom was Reshiram.

"Where is my human partner?" Reshiram asked in a voice that was neither male nor female.

"You will not find him." N responded. "You are going to stay with me and Zekrom. If you stray from us you will be killed. And this time, you won't be brought back."

"I was never killed. I was merely put into a deep sleep. Nothing can kill me."

"Other than Zekrom and Deoxys." Zekrom looked at Reshiram with contempt. The mute, black Pokemon hated Reshiram, they were sworn enemies. "Will you run and die or stay and live?"

"I shall stay."

"Good." N smiled widely. "Sean Ratchet's days are numbered."


	6. Act Six: The God Stone

Act Six: The God Stone

He was born in Mistalton City, Unova amidst much media attention and by the time he was only a week old his mother had left him with a babysitter and continued to work with her husband on their ultra-popular educational television series about searching for endangered Pokemon and helping them. His parents understood that he would be lonely and they wanted to be with him but felt that the show was more important. Call it selfish for them to believe that more people depended on them to produce this show on a weekly basis than they did on them taking care of their son. So Sean Ratchet, son of Jack and Mary Ratchet, never got to enjoy the company of his parents much at all. They at least had the decency to search for a companion for him though, if it were only for their selfish reasons. During their travels they found a small creature of the same age as Sean. Upon their return to Mistralton City they presented the tiny child with Riolu.

"We're going to see whether the bond between a Pokemon and a human is different when a child grows up alongside his Pokemon than when you capture it at an older age." Jack told Professor Oak via computer. "Maybe we'll learn something new. Maybe the bond will be greater, maybe not. But I think it's worth it."

Professor Oak grimaced. "Do you ever think about your son?"

Jack was taken aback. "I always do."

"You're treating him as a science experiment. I don't feel you're treating him as a son."

"I do! What do you know about my relationship with my son?"

"That he doesn't even know your face because you run off to tape your show instead of take care of him."

Jack clenched his fists. "What do you know about parenting?"

"Gary calls me daddy now and is the same age as your son. Can your son do that?"

Jack shook his head. "Sean has Riolu. That's all he needs."

Professor Oak shook his head. "Why you can't quit the show and take care of your blood is beyond me. I'm bringing Gary over and I'm going to take care of them both for a couple of weeks. I figure I owe you that much, and I figure your son and mine may as well become friends early."

"Do what you will."

A week later Sean would learn his first words from Oak. His first word, quite expectantly, was Riolu. Gary and Sean got along just fine but Oak noticed something especially different about the way Sean and Riolu acted. They shared, they slept together, they never fought nor cried around each other. Even though they couldn't speak, nor understood much of anything about the world around them, they at least seemed to care about each other. This was piquing Oaks scientific interest. Was Riolu using the telepathic ability the creatures were known for? Did the two share a strange telepathic bond?

This was part of why Lucario and Sean were as powerful and bonded as they were. This early telepathic bond meant that they learned at the same pace, they did the same things together, and they experienced things the same. The two were, essentially, the same. They were both blank slates that had been glued together. Now whatever was written on the slate was what both experienced.

Professor Oak had no idea who he was truly babysitting. He didn't see that in the future he would die protecting this child. He didn't see that this was the second child of three who would decide the fate of the world. He didn't even think that Sean Ratchet would become anything more than a television personality or Pokemon doctor.

He didn't see that this little boy and his Riolu were going to decide the fate of the world.

When Sean turned seven his parents took him on a cruise. Riolu went with him of course. This cruise was the closest he'd ever gotten to his parents and for all I know could have been the first time he spoke with his parents. To tell the truth, this could have been the only time he'd ever spent with his parents. He didn't particularly like them. They were snobbish, they were continually being asked for autographs, and as far as he cared he would have rather spent the time with Riolu. Which he did. He spent most of the cruise playing with Riolu at the pool or exploring with him. When the ship docked in Sinnoh Sean and Riolu played around in the streets. His parents didn't seem to care. They left him alone, only picking him up for a lunch where they barely spoke a word. His father and mother's attempts at striking up conversation failed miserably. Sean didn't particularly care for the two. The father was idiotic and the mother was just following the father's example like an obedient Pokemon.

On the return trip, though, something happened that would continue pulling the duo closer.

The ship scraped against a rock, tearing the hull open severely. The water entered the left side of the ship on the bottom, capsizing it. Amidst the panic of the sinking ship some people got away on escape boats or used their water type Pokemon, but Sean and Riolu didn't get to escape that way. They fell overboard and passed out in the water. The two held onto each other tightly.

They washed up on Rock Island. This island was thought of as nothing more than a large rock outcropping and was paid no heed. Thus, it was one of the best places to hide the God Stone.

The elder monks who lived in the caves of the island took Sean and Riolu into their care. As you well know the island is essentially a passage between the rocks and then a large arena like area. This arena is covered in jutting rocks so to anyone flying over it just looks like an outcropping. They never notice the caves.

Sean and Riolu awoke in the cave of the monks.

"Where are we?" Sean asked. He spoke not in the first person, but as a collective between himself and Riolu. This was how he always spoke up until the God Stone changed him.

"What is your name child?" One of the bald monks asked.

"We're Sean Ratchet and Riolu." He replied. He looked around the cave. There were carvings of me, carvings of the God Stone.

"He came to us as the prophecy said." One of the monks said.

"So the time of troubles is upon us?" Asked another.

"He is but a child!"

"Hush!" The monk who had initially asked Sean his name was the leader. Daigo quieted everyone and looked into the child's eyes, then into Riolu's.

"He speaks as if he is a single being with this Riolu. They were found washed up in each other's arms. These two are one and the same."

"He is One with Pokemon?" Asked one of the monks.

"He may be."

"One with Pokemon?" Sean asked.

"There is One with Pokemon, One with Humanity, and One with Innocence. One to rule Pokemon, one to rule humanity, and one to keep the peace." Daigo smiled pleasantly. "You may not know the legend of the God Stone. It is okay though. Soon you will be embroiled in the legend. Come child."

Sean and Riolu were taken to a recess in the arena-like area where a glowing stone sat.

"What is that?" Sean asked.

"The God Stone." Daigo said. "Have you heard of Mew?"

"Yes. It's a Pokemon that grants your wish if you see it."

"Correct. This is a Mew egg. There is only one Mew in existence. When another was to be born it was encased in an amber like substance to keep it from upsetting the balance of the world. Its sole purpose is to give its power to those who deserve it and will use it toward the betterment of the world. You are like the one mentioned in the prophecies. The one known as One with Pokemon."

Daigo would proceed to have Riolu and Sean touch the stone. It gave off the most glorious aura. This was Daigo's confirmation. He had found the second, One with Pokemon.

"You will be brought back here when the time is right. You will find me again. Right now I am only going to give you two the power to become one even further. When you return, you will get the rest of the power." The God Stone told Sean.

Riolu and Sean would pass out and awaken in a hospital, his parents standing over him.

Something strange was the fact that both Riolu and Sean's eyes flickered open at the same time.

His father, unbeknownst to Sean, was taking a lot of notes about his behavior. These papers would never get out though. The only other person to ever read them were Professor Oak. And the only other person to ever care about his behavior would be another person who cared naught for him but only for the money, Sillindra.

Sean met N during his days in a private school. His parents wanted him to become a scientist so of course enrolled him in the most high end facility they could find. He was only eight when he started being taught about biology and chemistry. He couldn't care less about it though. Neither could N, a young man of the same age with green hair. The two were essentially rebels. They didn't do their homework, messed around during class, and were told multiple times they would be kicked out of the academy if they didn't take their studies seriously. N and Sean were uncaring about the threats though. If they were kicked out of the academy, that was less work and more play time.

They didn't leave though. Their parents weren't happy with their progress and Sean's told him that if he didn't get good grades, Riolu would be taken from him. Thus Sean started to care and started to get good grades. Losing Riolu would be losing part of himself.

N continued to screw around. He loathed his parents. They beat him and told him how worthless he was. He'd show them. He would become the world's greatest Pokemon trainer.

"You're going to go into science! I will not allow you to be a trainer!" His father slapped him, sending him reeling backward. "You are going to make money, not travel around like some sort of nomad!"

Sean and N were good friends through the four years they were stuck in the academy. Sean got progressively better grades and actually was told he could become a Pokemon doctor if he continued his schooling and became an apprentice.

Upon leaving the academy, both Sean and N looked at what they could do with their lives. Sean decided he'd continue on the path of the Pokemon doctor, while N had different plans. Unova had an organization that took in young recruits, taught them to fight and take care of themselves, and helped them become people of worth. Sean liked this idea, maybe it would allow him to feel like he belonged. They were called Team Plasma and they were a closely knit organization that treated its members like family.

N continued to live with his parents for six months before he and Sean decided to join.

During his first couple months of apprenticeship Sean was taught by a nice Nurse Joy in the back of the Pokemon Center. He was made to read boring medical books and memorize a lot. The greatest part of his time in the back room of the Pokemon Center was his hitting puberty.

Yeah, I can see you giggling you pervert. I know you enjoyed puberty. But he enjoyed it because his Riolu evolved just as his body started to change. While the two watched the stars one night, Riolu changed. It was the happiest day of Sean's life to that point.

And it was the happiest day of Lucario's life. Now he was as tall as Sean again and the two could play on equal footing.

This didn't last long, but Lucario was happy while it did. And so was Sean. Sean would grow to be much taller than Lucario, making their playing together awkward, but as time progressed the two became more and more like one, and their selves disappeared, giving way to the one.

N and Sean joined Team Plasma together. They were both thirteen. Sean was joining to stay close to N and to have a real family, N was joining so he had a home where the owners did not beat him. Lucario, of course, followed Sean. If he were to have a reason for wanting to join, it would have been so that he could stay close to N and have a real family.

The two were becoming one.

Upon joining Team Plasma, N found himself a home within the Mistralton City branch of the organization. Sean became a member and would help the Team whenever they needed it. He continued his education at the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy found that he was a natural at helping other Pokemon and could somehow soothe them and speak to them.

Nobody knew he was part of Plasma except N. That was changed when he met Skyla.

He was fourteen when he met her. She came into the Pokemon Center, the pretty girl with bright red hair and deep blue eyes, her Unfezant in pain. Nurse Joy expected Sean to get the Pokemon better. It was his test. With Skyla beside him, he helped heal Unfezant's wing which had been broken in a battle. After he healed Unfezant he became good friends with Skyla. The two ran around the city all of the time, eating dinner together or just getting into Pokemon battles. She was impressed by his ability to control his Lucario so well. The two were undefeated. Never had Lucario even been scratched during a battle.

Sean finished his apprenticeship when he turned sixteen, and his friendship with Skyla changed.

"Skyla? Where'd you go?" He shouted, searching around. Lucario checked around the alleys with him, searching every nook and cranny. Skyla had been with Sean just a moment before. Now, she was gone.

"This isn't funny Skyla!" He yelled.

"Sean! We found her!" Lucario said. The we, of course, referring to the two becoming one. I'm sorry I keep bringing that up but I don't want you to question the story. Anyway…

Sean ran to Lucario and looked down an alley at a group of boys attempting to rip the clothes from Skyla's body. She struggled against the men, but they were too strong.

"Get off me!" She tried to cry, but one of the men quickly pulled a handkerchief over her mouth to quiet her.

"Shut the fuck up bitch!"

"You should listen to her. Get off her." Sean said. The past few years he'd spent in Team Plasma had taught him how to fight. He had become a more prominent member. N and Sean were close to being lieutenants, getting to answer directly to the elders. This was mostly because of their helping defeat Team Rocket's insurgence into Unova. It had been their first big job with Team Plasma and they had accomplished it with amazing skill.

Now it was time for a more practical application of his talents.

"Who the fuck are you?" The thug who quieted Skyla asked.

"My name's Sean Ratchet. Let her go. Or we'll beat the ever loving shit out of you."

"Come on then tough guy!" There were three thugs.

Sean, true to his word, beat the ever loving shit out of them.

When he pulled the handkerchief from Skyla's mouth she grabbed him in a bear hug and they made out rather graphically. I'll spare the details about their tongues and…ha, made you feel rather awkward, huh? I know what humans don't like to hear about and what makes them cringe.

Wait till the sex scene!

Anyway, after he saved her they ended up becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

Why are you so opposed to my telling you this part? Does it make you feel melancholy because you can't find a boyfriend?

Why are you my friend? Because we get along. You know I care about you. I care about everyone. I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't care.

So where were we? Oh yeah…

There are two Pokemon in this world who are probably the greatest of enemies. One is named Zekrom, one is named Reshiram. When Team Plasma caught both of them they assumed that there was not a giant rivalry between the two. So they didn't really figure that giving Zekrom to N and Reshiram to Sean as presents for becoming full-fledged lieutenants was a bad idea. Nor did they think that it would be cause for the organization to nearly fall apart.

Zekrom and N were not the greatest of friends at first. They actually got off on a bad foot with Zekrom nearly decapitating N in a fit of rage. Meanwhile, Sean and Reshiram were getting along quite swimmingly. This was more than likely due to his ability to communicate with Pokemon so well. Reshiram and Lucario trained together to become better combatants as Sean wanted to be able to take on anyone who challenged him.

It was strange to train a different Pokemon though. He and Lucario were training together; they were both trained in martial arts and back alley brawling. Reshiram couldn't be trained like that, and it took a long time before Sean and Lucario were fully able to make Reshiram even better than he/she already was.

Yeah, he/she is a god. Or a deity.

And Reshiram and Zekrom have no gender. I don't like referring to he/she as "it" so will refrain from doing so.

So Reshiram became more powerful with his/her trainer. He/she respected Sean more than anyone in the world. These two would share a close bond. Not as close as Sean had with Lucario because they were one and the same, but closer than humans can usually get with Pokemon.

Let's get back to that romance you so love. Don't give me that face. You're just jealous. Maybe you'll get a boyfriend someday. Though, they'd have to be drugged up beyond belief.

I kid, I kid!

Okay, Skyla ended up becoming the leader of the Mistralton City gym. She was good, and Sean really helped her out as well. When she moved into the gym, Sean followed her and bunked with her. They were both seventeen. She was actually a pretty tough gym leader and Sean had this especially friendly idea of just sitting and watching each Pokemon battle. After winning the battle with Skyla (losers just cried and ran away) they'd get this funny idea to challenge him. As he was in Plasma he had been beating all the gym leaders in Unova during his travels and liked to display his badges on the front of his jacket. Kids would challenge him just to show their superiority. And fail miserably.

Hey, I never said Sean wasn't an asshole sometimes.

Then again, he just loved to be able to train on some fresh meat. He'd wipe the floor with these kids. It got especially bad one night when the gym was holding a party for all the people heading to battle the Elite Four. Some of the people would challenge each other just to be assholes and show how great they were. One guy was going to propose to his girlfriend and needed someone to wipe the floor with to make her swoon over him and accept.

He chose Sean.

Lucario ended up shoving the guy's Raichu's head through a punch bowl.

Needless to say, his girlfriend was embarrassed. What happened to them, I don't know. Who cares?

Skyla had more respect for Sean than she did anyone else. This is a defining characteristic of the guy. He garnered respect from everyone he knew. Even people he pissed off respected him.

This is the part with the crazy sex that you've been waiting for. Because after the party, as everyone headed to their hotels to prepare for the pilgrimage to meet the Elite Four, Sean and Skyla were doing the dirty. Shall I explain what they were doing and saying?

Hey, I'm just asking a simple yes or no question. No need to be so rude.

What happened between him and her that he isn't with her now? I'll get to that. Settle down a bit.

"Sean, I don't want this night to end." Skyla softly moaned.

Oh quit pretend barfing! I know what you've done to women. I know you've done some very unsavory things. I watch my subjects. I know the weird things you've all done.

Weird things Sean Ratchet has done? Well, he tried to power his computer using a Pikachu and ended up frying it. Does that count?

You mean weird sexual stuff? So the regular, cute, loving sex scenes disgust you but the kinky weird shit is good?

You're weird. And I'm not telling you.

So anyway, Skyla was a gym leader, Sean was a Pokemon doctor. Skyla knew he was in Team Plasma. They were living a pretty good life. N and Skyla knew each other and were friends. All three grew closer over the years.

So one of your biggest questions about Sean Ratchet concerned his ability at Pokemon battle. I mean, I've told you enough by now, but this should firmly cement in your brain how good he was at Pokemon battling.

The Elite Four tournament. A bunch of trainers go to challenge them. About twenty-five. Twenty-four of them fail. Sean Ratchet is the last one to go. The first member of the Elite Four comes up. His name is Marshal and he specializes in fighting type Pokemon.

Sean Ratchet utters a line that to everyone watching was Zubat-shit insane.

"Throw out all six of your Pokemon. My Lucario needs a warm up."

Everyone watching on television and in the stands thought he was joking. Marshal did it though. Figured it was the last battle of the day. May as well.

Lucario wiped the gym floor. Marshal was done in forty-five seconds.

The next three were…well…Lucario beat them to a pulp too.

Why's he not that powerful right now? It's a gradual process. A human and a Pokemon mixed together. It's going to take some time before the power can be accessed by Sean. Lucario could access it by then because it had been ten years since he had touched the God Stone. Lucario and Sean are one being, but Sean is in control. When placed in Lucario's body, he had to get used to it and if you notice, he is gradually gaining the power back that Lucario had.

If Lucario had been allowed to continue to grow powerful, he could have faced me. I mean, eventually One with Pokemon will be able to face me if he wants, but for now he is just accessing the power and it is gradually flowing into his body. Overdose on power, and you know what happens…

You explode!

Or something like that. Something bad.

Anyway, Champion Alder was defeated by Lucario. I mean, Lucario got a little beat up, but not as badly as he should have.

So that should answer your question about how good a trainer Sean Ratchet was. I mean, if you had paid attention to the television you would have known this. Seriously, this guy was all over the news four years ago.

So now let me get to the romance laden, violence laden events that led to Sean's leaving from Plasma.

After that whole Elite Four ordeal Sean and Skyla ended up going on vacation together and the media followed. Sean hated the media, because of his parents caring about it more than himself, and especially hated how they couldn't tell the truth. They said that Skyla and Sean were married and he was suddenly getting calls from his parents asking why he didn't invite them to the marriage. Skyla saw his denying their being married as maybe something that meant he wanted to break up. He ended up promising her that he would stay with her forever and that he just didn't want everyone to think they were married because it would ruin the surprise when they were.

Why am I telling you this? You wanted the whole story! If you want to understand who Sean Ratchet is then you have to understand his past and his connections! Skyla was an important part of his life.

Okay, I'm moving to the exciting parts. Jeez.

Sean was planning on getting married to Skyla and wanted to leave Plasma. He didn't want to have to leave her to fight wars or make her fear for him any more than she already did and wanted to focus solely on running the gym with her. He was willing to give Reshiram back as long as he was left alone.

When he asked N about it, N told him it was a bad idea. Nobody could leave Plasma. The only way out was death.

Thankfully, things were about to get out of hand.

"Let's elope." Sean told Skyla. He sat slumped over in a chair, his hands clasped between his legs, his face downcast. Lucario sat beside him in the same state. Skyla handed him a cup of tea that he slowly downed. She pulled a chair next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I don't want to leave Sean."

"We can start another gym somewhere else. We don't want to be stuck in Plasma and the only way out is to run." He looked into her face. "We just want to live here and be with you."

"What if they follow us?"

Sean shook his head. "We don't know."

And then the defining moment of Sean Ratchet's life before becoming a Lucario came. The moment that would change him forever.

Plasma caught on to Sean wanting to leave and had N make sure that he was killed before he could even try to run. N didn't want to do it, but Team Plasma was his life. He didn't want to leave. He decided to come up with a plan to fake Sean's death.

Little did he understand the violent rivalry between Reshiram and Zekrom.

When Zekrom violently attacked Reshiram and nearly killed Sean, N knew that their friendship was over.

He knew that what had been an attempt to save Sean's life was now a battle for their very lives.

"You take Plasma over your friends?" Sean screamed, running at N as Reshiram and Zekrom blew Team Plasma's castle headquarters to dust. "You worthless bastard!" Sean ducked under N's punch and lashed out with his left foot. It connected with N's stomach, sending him reeling backward. N started sending a volley of punches at Sean, pushing him toward the fight between their two Pokemon.

"Zekrom!" The Pokemon turned. N hopped onto his back and the creature started to fly away. Sean and Lucario got onto Reshiram and they took chase.

N took them to an active volcano on a small island in the sea.

The venue of the final showdown.

On the edge of the volcano, Sean and N started to fight as Zekrom and Reshiram flew about over the boiling lava, blood flying everywhere. Lucario moved in on N with Sean and the two pushed him back, nearly sending him over the edge. He caught his balance and surprised Sean with a kick to the groin, then a knee to the stomach, and then a shove that sent him opposite the lava, but down the sloped edge of the volcano. Lucario slid after his other half as he tumbled, breaking his arms and legs, scratching his whole body up. Lucario got a hold of him and created an aura shield that saved them from any further damage beside a little bouncing.

Reshiram and Zekrom both fell into the volcano.

And N left, knowing that Sean was still alive and now his worst enemy. A complete misunderstanding…

Sean spent two weeks in a hospital before he was released. He had a single night to spend with Skyla before he would leave. Team Plasma had been searching for the God Stone for all of the time he was there and he had hid the fact he knew where it was. Now he felt he needed to go back to the God Stone, both because he felt compelled to, and because he wanted to rub salt in Plasma's wounds.

The final night he spent with Skyla he proposed to her.

Yeah, it was kind of a cock move. I guess he wanted her to know that he was willing to do it and wanted to provide some sort of closure to the relationship. Maybe he felt that he would come back and they would get married then.

Who knows?

Is she still alive? Yeah. She does her job, but has been waiting for Sean for three years.

Sean's twenty-two. How many more questions are you going to ask? Yeesh.

So anyway, the next day he had his bags packed and, with Lucario in tow, went to kiss Skyla. He cried when he left, but he needed to.

And this is where things started to move toward his becoming Lucario.

Sean ended up back at Rock Island. The monks saw that he and Lucario were still very close, much closer than they had been twelve years before. Sean ended up spending a couple of days with the monks while he took the power of the God Stone. He took a picture of it with his cellphone and sent it to N's phone, then to the main computer of Team Plasma.

Needless to say, this pissed Team Plasma off.

They were going to kill Skyla but N protected her. They were still friends, she didn't know about what happened between him and Sean. Sean had hid it from her.

So instead Sean's parents were killed and Team Plasma hoped Sean would come for revenge.

He didn't. He didn't even care.

This was partly due to the fact his soul was being pushed into his Lucario's body, and partly because he just didn't care.

He ran to Sinnoh where he would meet a scientist, Sillindra, and finally become Lucario.

"When I asked about Lucario I didn't know I'd get a whole bloody history lesson. And I didn't know I'd end up hearing about the guy who turned into a Pokemon. So that other Sean Ratchet bloke is just a clone?" Devon asked, sitting on a rock beside a quiet river.

"Yup. He's just a clone with no memories of the past. He knows what he's good at because taking care of Pokemon is in his blood, but he doesn't really know that he's wanted dead by Plasma."

"So a good question is who is One with Innocence?"

"That will be decided shortly. What's it like being human?"

"Meh. The accent turns people away. And the fact I'm into males." Devon shrugged. "Whatever."

"And the fact your funny looking?"

"This coming from a floating embryo?" Devon smiled. "Wanker."

Mew smiled and did a backflip. "How's Bellossom?"

"Great! She's my little Bellossy-wossy."

Mew nodded. "Sure. Well, I better get going. I'll see you later."

"Thanks mate. Be seeing you around." Devon watched Mew go before getting off the rock and heading back to Cherry Grove.

"He's in Johto. He's doing well." N told Skyla, sitting on the bleachers in the Mistralton City gym. "He's apparently a Pokemon doctor. I had to beat him up a little. Of course I did. After all the shit that happened between us. I was crying when I did. God dammit! I want to leave Plasma! I wanted to leave back when he did! But I didn't have the balls! And now I have to pretend I hate my fucking best friend, my brother! I want him to take Reshiram back and destroy Plasma! I want us to be friends again! I want him back here with you. I miss our old life dammit!" N put his face into his hands. "FUCK!"

"Please, try your best to have Sean come back." Skyla wiped a tear from her eye. "I want things back to the way they were before. Minus Team Plasma."

"I'm going back. I'm going to talk to him. If he kills me, so be it. But I'm bringing him back to Unova and we're going to bring down Plasma dammit!" N and Skyla sat there reminiscing for another hour before he left.

Ash and Daylan stood on Rock Island, watching his men pull rocks aside and using excavation machines to dig for the God Stone that his men had buried two and a half years before.

"So do you really think that this will make you a god?" Daylan asked, shaking his head. "Just because it's called the God Stone doesn't mean it will make you a god. This is all a bunch of mythological insanity."

"You'll see. You know what it did to the Lucario!" Ash turned away from his scientist companion and went to talk to the man in charge of the excavation. Daylan started to his personal quarters within a Team Rocket battleship.

"The things I do for money."


	7. Act Seven: The Start of Something Big

Act Seven: The Start of Something Big

**Olivine City**

A month had passed since the assassin Nichelle had attempted to kill Lucario. In that month absolutely nothing bad had happened, a particularly frightening fact for a number of reasons. Lucario enjoyed the sudden respite from the violence, but at the same time figured that he and his friends were in a calm before the storm situation. He had too many enemies at this point in time to warrant so much downtime. Miyagi had been off the map ever since his attack on the Cherry Grove City police precinct. N and Team Plasma were nowhere to be found. He hadn't heard anything more of Team Rocket since the incident at Goldenrod City when they had faced off against Daylan.

Over the past month he had spent a couple of days recuperating from using so much aura during his fight with Nichelle. He had then started to get used to his old role as a helper at Tsubaki's. He and Lopunny started to help Tsubaki in the kitchen as well they could. It had allowed Lucario and Lopunny a lot of time to hang out with each other. They had made a joint decision not to bond yet. They didn't want to have to raise kids if there were so many people trying to kill them. They trusted each other not to run off with anyone else.

They sat together on the beautiful Olivine City beach in the scorching heat, staring out at the perfectly blue ocean. Wingull and Pelipper's flew about over the waters, swooping down and coming up with fish wriggling in their beaks. The water lapped gently against their feet, never going any further than their ankles. It was a perfect day.

"The beach really is nice." Lopunny said from Lucario's shoulder, her favorite pillow. "I never imagined it would be this beautiful."

"Yeah, that mind vacation we took doesn't do this place justice." Lucario said, resting his head on Lopunny's. Off in the distance he could hear Devon, Tsubaki, Sean, and Amy all playing around. They had put up umbrella's, set down towels, and set up beach chairs. They let Lucario and Lopunny have their privacy. Devon had attempted to intrude once, but Tsubaki stopped him. She understood Lucario better than anyone else. She knew that giving him privacy when he was with Lopunny was one of the few things he asked for. She had no idea what they said to each other, but it must have been nice things because they clung to each other so tightly all the time, it was almost like they were connected. Amy had been taking a lot of pictures of the two the whole trip, setting them as her cellphone background and wiggling around. Tsubaki didn't blame her. They were ridiculously adorable.

She looked over at the two from her beach chair and smiled. It was so nice to see Lucario in a peaceful state of mind, not being made to think about fighting, just enjoying himself. That was why she decided to go on this vacation, both to celebrate his return and to give him and Lopunny some quiet time together away from home.

Lucario stroked Lopunny's ear gently, closing his eyes. "I love you."

She nudged him gently with her head and pushed as close as she could to him, squeezing him in the process. "I love you too Luc."

They kissed passionately. Tsubaki couldn't help but be happy for Lucario's happiness. After everything he had gone through, he deserved this. He deserved to be able to try to attain something he hadn't been able to through all the battles, all the violence.

Happiness.

Tsubaki looked in front of her, watching Sean and Amy splash around like little kids in a swimming pool. Devon chuckled and sat down on the sand beside Tsubaki.

"It's a beautiful thing isn't it? Love?" He held Bellossom in his hands and patted her head. "It's so beautiful it makes me bloody sick." He stuck out his tongue and pretended to gag.

"Well, at least they're not killing each other."

Devon snorted. "Yeah, they're not married yet. That's when the bullets start to fly."

"You sound like you have some knowledge about that." Tsubaki said.

"No, I just watch a lot of telly."

Tsubaki nodded. "So what do you do beside the resistance? Do you have a real job?"

He nodded. "I work at a flower shop. I'm the flower expert." He opened the cooler beside him and pulled out a water bottle. He twisted the cap off and took a swig, then poured a little into the cap, offering it to Bellossom. She guzzled it down and he refilled it.

"Is it in Cherry Grove?" Tsubaki asked.

"No. It's on Route 29 heading to New Bark Town. It's not a huge business because trainers are too daft to understand the intrinsic beauty of flowers, but we get enough money to keep going. "

"What do you like about flowers?"

"They don't smell repulsive. They look good sitting anywhere. There's a flower for any occasion." Devon smirked. "Are you yanking my chain mate? Want to make fun of me?"

"No. I like flowers too. I just think you're a bit strange. You're not like normal guys."

"Hey doll, let's not throw the word normal around. I don't think any of us are what you'd consider normal." He tightened his embrace on Bellossom. "Except for you my little flower. Never shall you wilt the love in my heart."

Tsubaki rolled her eyes.

Sean stood in the bathroom, shaving the stubble off his chin. He wore a plain white shirt and boxer shorts. Amy crept toward him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he threw off the excess shaving cream from his razor. He yawned and turned to kiss her cheek.

"You ready for this big, fancy dinner?" He asked, grabbing a towel and wiping his face off.

"I can't wait to have steak and wine and all that fancy people stuff. I've never actually been to a fancy restaurant." Sean turned to her, noticing quite acutely how naked she was. He gave her a dazed and confused look.

"I'm going to take a shower." She answered his unspoken questions. He nodded. "Don't be so embarrassed. I'm your girlfriend. Does it matter?"

He shook his head. "I've just never shared a bathroom with a naked chick."

She got into the shower. "I can tell." She laughed a little. "It's the first time I've shared a bathroom with a guy. Let alone one in Psyduck underwear."

He looked down at his boxers and back at the shower. "I like them!"

Sean adjusted his tie in the mirror next to the single bed in his room. He looked out the window, down at the attractive people in the moonlit swimming pool of the resort, then further to the quiet beach. He walked to the door that led into the main hall, deciding he wanted some fresh air while Amy took a shower. The moment he opened it he saw a couple of people standing in front of Tsubaki's door. He entered the hall and tapped one of them on the shoulder, looking at what they were doing. One of the men held a pistol against the doorknob.

The men turned to Sean and the one with the pistol lifted it toward his head.

Sean had no idea how he was able to do what he was about to do.

The pistol was barely at his chest when he grabbed it by the barrel with his left hand and karate chopped his right hand against the wielder's wrist. His grip on the weapon weakened and Sean pulled it from his hand, keeping his hand around the barrel as he pistol-whipped the man across the forehead, cracking his skull with a resounding thunk of impact. The gunman crumpled to the floor and Sean turned to his friend who sent his fist against Sean's cheek. Sean backed away, the ring on the man's index finger leaving a deep imprint in his cheek.

The man stuck his foot behind Sean's ankle and pushed his foot upward, throwing Sean onto his back. The pistol fell from his grip and the man went for it.

Sean rolled toward it and, when he was close enough to the assailant, swept his feet out from under him in a kind of eye for an eye gesture. The man somehow turned in midair and landed on his hands as if he were performing a push up. He wrapped his hand around the pistol just as Sean rolled under his push up position. The man's stomach was an inch from Sean's chest as he reached to the man's armpit and started to tickle it.

The assailant couldn't help but laugh and the pistol left his grip.

Sean's hands pushed against his stomach and threw him away. He scampered to the pistol and pointed it at the assailant's right shoulder, taking the shot.

Sean sat against the wall next to his room and watched the writhing man, his shoulder a bloody, gory mess. He threw the pistol away and started to breath heavily. He didn't know how he was able to do something like that. He had never been trained to fight, and yet he had fought like he knew martial arts or something of the like.

The door across the hall from him opened and Tsubaki looked out at the two men and then Sean sitting there with a glazed over expression in his eyes.

"What happened?" She asked, running to him.

"They tried to break into your room. I stopped them. Holy crap, I don't know how I did what I just did."

Tsubaki looked at the two men laying in the hall. "Who are they?"

"I don't know. Didn't have any time to ask." Sean watched Tsubaki grab the pistol he had thrown away and turn the man he had shot in the shoulder over. She knelt on him, one knee on his chest, her other foot on the floor, close to his shoulder. She pressed the pistol against his forehead and gave him a moment to relieve himself in his pants.

"Let's start easy. What's your name?"

He looked to be debating with himself whether to answer her or not but gave in when she pushed the pistol against his forehead hard enough to push the back of his head against the floor.

"My name's Geoff!"

"Good Geoff. I'm Tsubaki. Though I think you know that since you tried to break into my room."

He nodded his head.

"Why were you breaking into my room?"

"It was orders!"

"Orders from who?" The barrel of the pistol was probably going to leave a permanent scar on his forehead if she pressed any harder.

"Team Rocket!" He exclaimed.

"That's bullshit. You aren't carrying any Pokemon. All members of Team Rocket carry Pokemon at all times." Tsubaki touched her foot lightly against his blown shoulder. The man screamed.

"You're wanted! You and the Lucario!" The man cried.

"By who?" Tsubaki looked up and saw Lucario standing in the doorway to his, her, and Lopunny's room, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"You know what's been happening in Sinnoh, right?" He asked.

"Sillindra's been kicked out of office and put in prison."

"That's what they want you to think. She signed a paper before she left. The Sinnoh-Kanto Compact. It was a government secret for the past month or so, but now we're acting upon it."

"What is this compact?"

"We've aligned ourselves in the war."

"What war?"

"We have proof that Johto's government is working with a terrorist and is expected to attack us at any moment. "

Lucario shifted uneasily. "So Sillindra set up for war?"

"Unova and Johto are working together to engage in a coup against the Kanto and Sinnoh governments. We were sent into Johto to take out high profile targets as well as kidnap a few and take them to Sinnoh. It's going to be war. Kanto is already moving in on Unova with the intention to take their government and Sinnoh is going to take the slow and steady approach. When Johto moves their army to Unova to help fight off Kanto, Sinnoh moves into Johto and takes over."

"Kanto's going to lose." Tsubaki muttered. "Meaning this whole war is based between something going on in Sinnoh and Johto."

"She's trying to save her own ass." Lucario said. "She's going to show that Daylan was working with Johto and Unova's government to get her out of office and planted fake evidence the whole way. She knew this was coming. Daylan had said that he threatened her with letting loose how she got into office illicitly. And the whole time she had planned out how to save her own ass. Turn the world into a warzone. That crazy bitch."

Sean looked up at Lucario. "Then why is she after Tsubaki if she's going for high profile targets right now?"

"Because she knows who I am and knows what Lucario is capable of. She probably wants Lucario dead more so than I." Tsubaki looked the assailant in the eyes. "How'd you find out where we were?"

"Easy. You have the same number and same cell phone you had back when you and Sillindra were working together in Sinnoh. We traced you."

"Shit." Tsubaki got off the man and looked at Lucario. "We've got bigger problems then Team Rocket and Miyagi right now."

"I'd say." Lucario blew out a breath. "We've got a world war to worry about."

Tsubaki shoved the pistol into her waistband at the small of her back. "If there are two, there are a lot more. Right." She shot a look at the man on the floor.

He nodded. "You're fucked."

"We've faced worse odds." Lucario said, baring his teeth menacingly. He turned around, Lopunny standing behind him the whole time, scared. He took her and walked her into the room. She looked genuinely frightened.

"Luc…what's going on? Why are you in the middle of so much?"

He blew out a breath. "I don't know. But if you want to leave, run away, I wouldn't blame you. I've put you through more than a responsible boyfriend should. And things just go from bad to worse." He looked down at his feet.

She punched him lightly in the stomach then on the cheek. "I'm not leaving you. If you were any other Pokemon, I'd be scared. I'd want to run. But you're Luc. I'm scared, of course I am. I don't like the thought of war. But I know everything will be okay." She hugged him. "So quit being a whiny baby and don't worry about me leaving you. Because I won't. Worry more about protecting everyone you care about."

Tsubaki walked into the room and smiled at the two. "You know what I like about you two as a couple?"

They both looked up at her.

"You stick together even through all of this crap. You guys were made for each other." She opened her suitcase and started digging around for clothes. "Things are going to get tough. That's for sure."

Sean walked into the room and shook his head. "Why don't we just kill Sillindra and get it over with? Let's have Cristian and Devon head to Sinnoh and take her out. They're the most qualified."

"Because, that'd give Sinnoh solid proof that Johto are bad guys." Tsubaki grimaced. "It's a delicate situation."

"And they said there were more?" Sean put his face in his hands. "I don't know how I did what I did out there. I don't understand why everyone wants us dead. I mean, that Plasma guy beat me up and I had no idea why! Ever since I met you people my life has become a fucking action movie!"

"Welcome to the jungle." Tsubaki said. "You can try to get untangled from the vines, but then you'll just get trapped in quicksand."

"Lovely analogy." Sean shook his head. "I have all these questions, but the biggest one is who I am. Because it's readily apparent I'm not just a Pokemon doctor. I barely remember anything about my childhood or my teenage years. It's almost like one of those thriller novels. Lost my memory, used to be a government agent, people come after him again." He laughed nervously. "I hope that we can have a lovely dinner without anyone attempting to kill us." He then walked out and went to his room where Amy was putting on a nice dress in preparation for dinner.

Tsubaki looked over at Lucario. Lucario looked back at her. She smirked.

"I'm not telling him anything." Lucario said.

"I don't blame you."

Lopunny looked at them both but Lucario pressed her head tight against him. "Just an inside joke."

Kim and Rick looked at the two people lying in the hallway of the resort. They then turned to look at each other.

"Somebody else wants them dead."

Sean crossed the hallway, stepping over the two bloody, beaten men. He entered a room and closed the door.

"He was in a suit." Rick said.

"Maybe they're going for dinner." Kim replied.

"Then we can follow them. And then we can test our weapon at the restaurant." He nodded to himself. "Good plan."

Kim sighed. "You're talking to yourself again."

The restaurant was quiet, as was to be expected of a place as fancy as it was. There were fountains in the dining room, the walls were covered in gold, the large windows were covered by opulent red draperies. It was like a room in a castle. The group was seated next to a fountain of a naked goddess. Devon looked at her and then looked at the waiter. "Isn't that rather dirty?"

"Sir, it is art. But if you are offended, we can change the table."

Devon shook his head. "I like it."

"Very good sir."

Tsubaki wore a suit like the guys. She wasn't one for dresses. She wore them, but as far as fancy clothing went, she preferred a double breasted suit to a glittery, girly dress. Amy was the opposite, though her dress wasn't really glittery. The red dress accentuated her curves and was quite different from the usual waitress outfit she wore. Sean wore a double breasted suit, as did Devon.

Lucario and Lopunny were the first to order, the waiter apparently not knowing of a Lucario's telepathic ability. He nearly dropped his serving tray when Lucario asked for water for himself and Lopunny. The others asked for champagne.

In the middle of the room, a man was playing away at a grand piano. Everyone at the table felt out of place. None of them were particularly fancy. The only reason they were having such an opulent vacation was because Sean and Tsubaki had worked together to pay for it. Sean used all of his savings that he never remembered getting (Lucario wasn't particularly displeased with his use of the money he'd been saving up before the change) and Tsubaki did the same. They bought suits and decided on blowing it all on an expensive resort and expensive meals.

Lucario understood why Tsubaki was doing this. It was quite simple actually.

She understood that they could die in the situation they were currently in. And she wanted them all to be able to enjoy themselves together in case they did or someone did. Cristian and Lily had decided to stay back and take care of things. The loss of the police precinct was still a huge problem with Cherry Grove and a sort of citizen's police, previously known as the resistance, had taken their place until a new police precinct were put in place. They let Devon go to keep him out of their hair.

The moment Devon got his glass of champagne he downed it and grabbed the neck of the bottle, tipping more into his glass. Lucario liked Devon. He reminded Lucario of when he was eleven.

When food came, Devon wolfed it down with the mannerisms to be expected of him. Lucario and Lopunny, eating their fancy Pokechow, even had more manners then he did.

"This is great!" Tsubaki exclaimed. Lucario nodded in agreement and Devon continued to shovel food into his mouth. Sean and Amy took bites off of each other's plates.

"This is so good!" Amy started to wiggle around in her signature fashion.

"This is disgusting!" Daylan threw down his fork and wiggled around so his seat backed away from the metal table where his dinner sat. It was some sort of mystery meat that a man on the battleship had thrown onto his tray with the finesse to be expected of a chef with no formal training. And the food tasted like it was prepared with the finesse to be expected of a chef with no formal training. It tasted, to put it lightly, like rotten ass. On the other side of the table, Ash cut into what could have been meatloaf, or could have been intestine. Daylan couldn't tell.

"The chef worked hard to make this. Don't be so repulsed." Ash had taken off his mask. He wore it less and less now, realizing how stupid it was to wear it everywhere. Everyone knew the mask. Very few knew the face.

"I prefer my food to be edible." Daylan said.

"It is." Ash forked a piece of the meat into his mouth and chewed on it for about three minutes. When he was done, he set his fork down and cleared his throat. "Somebody else got to Tsubaki and the Lucario before us."

"Who?" Daylan asked.

"That's an excellent question." Ash shook his head. "We don't know. They had nothing on them. The recon did show that they were heading out to eat. So we decided to send your clone after them."

"Excellent. We'll test him out." Daylan looked between the food and Ash. "Do we know where they are having dinner?"

"Well, I got a text a few minutes ago saying they were at the Pierre."

Daylan's eyes got wide. "Lucky bastards! That's the best steak joint in Johto!"

At seven o' clock every night the restaurant brought in a mini orchestra and opened the dance floor up. Sean and Amy were the first people there, Amy dragging him along. She started into a slow dance, putting his left hand on her waist, his right through her left, and her right hand on his shoulder. They rocked back and forth like they were on a ship. Devon stood up and walked over to Tsubaki, offering her his hand.

"C'mon doll. We're the only singles here. I'm not hitting on you if that's what you think. I'm not into your type."

Tsubaki smiled. "Devon, what's with the sudden niceness?"

"I'm always a lovely person." Devon grabbed her hesitating hand. "You can dance, right?"

She shook her head.

"Well we can do that stupid left and right thing that Sean and Amy are doing. Or we can actually tear up the dance floor."

"You can dance?" Tsubaki looked mildly amused.

"I sell flowers for a living. You think I can't dance?" He started toward the dance floor, Tsubaki right behind.

Lucario watched Tsubaki and Devon dance around. Tsubaki eventually put her feet on top of Devon's and they did a slow dance together, him leading her.

Lucario heard the front double door open and noticed men walking inside. Men with big R's on their chests.

The maître d attempted to ask them for their reservations but was silenced by a shot to the head.

The music stopped, the people streamed for the exits, screaming.

Tsubaki held the pistol taken from the man in the resort hallway in her hand. Lucario had shoved Lopunny underneath the table. Devon had Bellossom's Pokeball in his hand and Sean had pushed Amy into the crowd leaving through the back exit, his instincts telling him to fight.

"Hey mates, let me take care of this." Devon said, pushing Sean back and looking at Tsubaki. "Find a car and get it around back. This won't take long."

"Are…you sure?" Tsubaki asked.

He grinned stupidly. "I am doll." He looked at Lucario. "Get Lopunny and bugger off!"

"But I've got something I must discuss with him." Came a familiar voice.

"Eh, Lucario. Discuss what with whom?"

"What?" Lucario asked.

The throng of Team Rocket soldiers parted and Lucario walked out from behind his curtain of men.

"Um, another Lucario?" Devon asked.

"Daylan…" Tsubaki muttered.

Lucario, the original, pulled Lopunny from under the table. Devon hooked a thumb for the back door and Sean and Tsubaki ran for it, Tsubaki grabbing Lopunny on the way.

"You take the Lucario, I'll take the Rocket guys?" Devon asked.

Lucario nodded.

"Let's see what happens." Daylan sat back at his computer console. The nanomachines in the Lucario clone gave the rundown on how he was doing. If he even skipped a heartbeat, Daylan would know. It was the perfect way to monitor the battle between Lucario and Lucario.

Currently, the cloned Lucario's heart rate was going faster.

The fight was starting.

Devon stood on the dance floor, the Team Rocket members surrounding him. He caught a quick glance as the two Lucario's squared off next to the table where only five minutes before Devon had been enjoying filet mignon. He grimaced at the thought of fighting only a couple minutes after eating. The cramps would be tremendous.

There were twelve people, each carrying a machine gun.

Devon had no weapon.

He released Bellossom from her Pokeball and held her tightly in his arms. "Well Bellossy-wossy, it appears I have to fight again." He smirked. "You know what to do. Flower power." He grabbed her tiny left hand and shook it. She piped up happily.

"Bellossom!"

He set her down and ran a hand through his hair.

"Come one and all to Devon's House of Ass Kicking. Admission price is your bollocks on a silver platter."

The first guy stepped forward, his finger curled around the trigger.

A couple more stepped forward, prepared to fire.

Lucario ducked under his clone's punches and attempted to sweep his feet out from under him. The clone let loose an aura sphere at Lucario's feet as he attempted the move. His only way out was to drop to the floor and spread his legs so the sphere destroyed the floor, but not any part of him. The clone used this opportunity to stomp on Lucario's stomach. Lucario grabbed his leg as it put pressure on his innards and shoved his hand spike through the clone's thigh. It screamed and let off, allowing Lucario to get up.

Devon stepped up one of the men, grabbing his rifle by the barrel. The man started to shoot and Devon flipped his around in a half-circle, the shots taking one of his buddies in the gut, another in the chest, and another in the arm. Devon smashed his elbow into the gunman's face and took his rifle from his hands, using it as a blunt club and killing him with a powerful blow with the butt of the gun against his head.

Team Rocket started shooting and Devon threaded past the bullets, ducking and twisting to miss them. He got close to a young man with a goatee and grabbed his face, throwing him in front of three bullets. His body twisted slowly. Somebody was screaming in slow motion.

"Can I do it?"

"Go for it love."

"It's strange that I enjoy you calling me that."

"Gotten used to being my little Bellossom eh?"

"it's nice to be loved."

"I agree." Devon dodged a couple of bullets and snapped his fingers quickly. "You have my permission to let loose."

Bellossom jumped in the air and her shape started to change.

Daylan lifted an eyebrow. The Lucario clone's heartbeat was slow. Slow enough he thought the creature could be dead already.

"What is going on?"

Devon stood next to his prized Pokemon as she stood large and proud over the remaining Team Rocket members.

"It's been a long time since you've taken this form." Devon patted her side. "How's it feel?"

"Nice. Though I prefer being able to be hugged as a Bellossom."

The eyes of the Team Rocket members opened slowly, widening comically.

"Go ahead Dialga." Devon sat down. "I just hope Lucario doesn't see you."

"He won't." Dialga replied and proceeded to kill everyone on the dance floor.

Time sped up again and Lucario felt a fist smash against his muzzle. He staggered backward and looked at Devon who held Bellossom in his arms, Team Rocket completely decimated.

"Holy shit!" Lucario said before taking another punch to the face.

He fell down this time and just sat there for a second. He looked up at his double and shook his head.

"I'll see you later buddy."

The Lucario clone looked down and tilted his head.

An ambulance smashed through the wall on the opposite side of the restaurant. Lucario ran for it, as did Devon. Tsubaki honked the horn and smiled. "All aboard!"

The Lucario clone ran for the back of the vehicle, but made the mistake of passing the passenger door. Sean slammed it open, breaking its muzzle.

"How do we know which one is the real one?" Tsubaki asked.

Sean looked out the window at the downed Lucario. "Hey, who's your girlfriend?"

"What are you talking about?" It asked.

"We got the right one!" Sean said happily and Tsubaki started backing out the way she came when Lucario and Devon were safely in the back.

**Goldenrod City**

Cristian took the offered cigarette from Lily and took a deep pull from it. He blew the smoke out his nostrils and handed it back to her. She stood close to him, staring up at the giant radio tower that dominated the city skyline and was lit up like a Christmas tree on this particular night. They stood outside of a café, Cristian holding a big cup of coffee in one of his hands. He sipped at it in between draws from the cigarette. Across the street was a library, large marble steps leading to a large, ancient looking façade with ionic columns standing tall and carvings of Pokemon dominant. Tiny cars drove by on the cobblestone street. A typical scene.

The door to the library opened and a woman walked out. Her hair was short in the back but long on top. It was a pretty shade of light blue. She wore black skinny jeans with a belt the same color as her hair. A black biker jacket that stopped above her belly button, showing lovely bare midriff, sat over her breasts, once again black lined with blue. On her feet were a pair of shoes with high tops with blue laces.

She was quite a beautiful twenty year old woman.

And Cristian had learned from an informant that she was the daughter of Miyagi.

She took the steps two at a time, a book in the crook of her arm. Cristian could easily guess her car to be the sleek black and blue one that matched the girl completely.

Cristian handed Lily his coffee and started to approach the girl.


End file.
